


Children of Megatron

by LGTracy



Series: Ellie-world [2]
Category: Transformers (Bay Movies), Transformers - All Media Types
Genre: Blood and Gore, Gen, Medical Procedures, Non-con Body Modifications, Past Child Neglect, Triggers, mentions of child torture
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-05-17
Updated: 2017-03-02
Packaged: 2018-06-09 00:03:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 27
Words: 66,904
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6881056
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LGTracy/pseuds/LGTracy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Megatron, AKA NBE-1, was called the father of the modern age.  Simmons boasted of the fact that all modern technology was reverse-engineered from him.  The studies performed on the frozen warlord did not all create new weaponry, some yeilded far more disturbing results.  None more heinous than project Maimed Angel.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

A/N: So this is the story that started my fan fiction writing “career,” such that it is. For those of you who read this on FF.net, you will find that this version has been changed. It is now being beta'd by the ever faithful Khalthar from the very beginning, some scenes have been added and/or expanded to better help the story flow. The original version, which was started years ago, is still on FF.net, but I do have to warn you that the technique and skill has vastly improved, both throughout the original publication and (hopefully,) this version as well. Special note: if there are any style changes, i.e. depicting a change in POV or a flashback or different language or means of communication, it will be noted in a legend at the beginning of each chapter.

Disclaimer: Transformers is the property of Hasbro and whomever they sold the rights to. The Transformers movies are the property of Paramount, Dreamworks and their associated agencies. The vision of the Transformers movies is the intellectual property of Michael Bay. No infringement was implied nor intended. No financial gain has been made by the author. All original characters and/or plot is the intellectual property of the author. Use of either without the permission and/or acknowledgment of the author is forbidden. This disclaimer encompasses the entirety of this work.

LEGEND:  
VVVVVBREAKVVVVV = Change in POV/time skip

 

PROLOGUE:

2004

The surface of the sample seemed to be alive with electromagnetic activity. Similar, he would say, to the electric currents present in the brain. 

The knob clicked the microscope to an even greater magnification. After scanning the surface for any unusual activity, Dr. Alistair Carlisle happened on something he never expected to see in a technological sample; the units, cellular in design, appeared to be destroying an apparently damaged unit, and replacing it with four smaller units. 

This was extraordinary! If this could be replicated, it would be the end of cancer, or it could revolutionize amputations and paralysis. Maybe this could help him walk again.

The sounds of the phone ringing in the front of the lab and the soft murmurs of his assistant faded to white noise. Likewise, he ignored the sounds of the servos grinding as the other technicians built, tested, rebuilt and re-tested their various artificial body parts. 

This was amazing! He had to get this latest discovery recorded. The voice activated recorder clicked on with his first words.

“Findings indicate that these chips harvested from NBE1, although decidedly technological in origin, appear to have remarkable regenerative tendencies. Further analysis is needed to determine if these tendencies can be transferred into biological cells, or combined with damaged cells to replace or repair them. 

“Next step in this research will be to introduce living biological cells into the environment with these harvested technological units to determine how they will interact.”

“Dr. Carlisle!” his assistant finally interrupted.

“What is it Alicia?” he asked, quite annoyed.

The look on her face was one of utter shock and woe. If he wasn't so interested in the activity happening under his microscope, he might have noticed she was fighting tears.

“It's your sister and niece. 

“There's been an accident. You need to get to the hospital to act as next of kin.”

That brought him up short, next of kin? They would only need him for that if Mary was unable to. This had to be really bad. 

For the first time since he was assigned to this project, he lost his focus on work.

He backed his wheelchair out from under the desk he was working at and maneuvered it around to face Alicia. “Call my car,” he said. “Please make sure to log my last observations for me. I'll be back as soon as I can.”

“Yes sir, and Dr. Carlisle?”

He stopped his chair on his way to the door. He didn't bother to turn around.

“I'll pray for your sister and niece.”

Alistair Carlisle didn't respond. He maneuvered the joystick to continue his progress toward the garage, and his only remaining family. God seemed disinterested in him or his family from his point of view.

VVVVVBREAKVVVVV

He had learned the planets' multitude of languages, including distinct dialects and accents, solar orbits ago. Years, he corrected himself. These human creatures called them years. If anything, Soundwave thought, he was good at his job, and his job was to learn all about the inhabitants on this wretched rock so that he was better able to spy on them.

He was hanging in space doing little more than monitoring the planets' conversations through the satellite he was plugged into when it hit him; pain. His legs were crushed, his left arm was pinned and there was a burning sensation running into his left optic and audial. The pain was not his own, he realized, but rather that from a spark connection. Alarmed, he located each of his symbiotes through his link with them and determined that they were not suffering any damages. So, what was this?

He attempted to access the memory files of the other that had connected with him and became confused; there were no data files. Desperate now, he explored what he could of the other's mind and was shocked by what he found; it was a human.

How was this even possible? He had no hypothesis, so he delved further into the other's mind and was able to access enough memories to determine he was in the processors of a youngling femme.

Who was she? How had they connected? He was determined that he would find out, so he allowed himself to sink further into her mind and just experience what was happening to her now. 

The burning sensation; he analyzed it and realized it was cold when it first touched her face, only to begin burning as it sat. Acid. She had to be having acid dripped on her. What did she see? It was useless, nothing but blurs and smears of color. It was probably from a combination of both the damage to her optic and the liquid humans expelled from them when in pain; tears.

What did she hear? Wailing. She was crying, which he expected given her apparent age and current pain level, but what else? A voice; “Yes? 

“As far as I can see there are two people trapped in the car. It looks like a mother and baby.

“No, the mother is dead. The baby . . . Oh God! The baby is crying! She's still alive! Hurry! The tanker truck has a corrosive sticker on it and something is leaking through the roof onto her. Please hurry!

“No! I can't pull her out! Her legs, oh shit! They're crushed between the back of the seat and her car seat. I can't get the seatbelt off!”

He hacked into the emergency response phone conversations in America and Canada,  
given the caller's language and accent, and searched for any references to car accidents involving tanker trucks transporting corrosive materials and entrapment. Fortunately, there was only one at that particular moment, so he flagged the information in his processors and compared the part of the conversation the femme youngling was able to hear with the nine-one-one operator's questions. They matched.

He further accessed the call log to determine which emergency response unit was deployed and was able to extrapolate what hospital they would most likely transport her to. Acknowledging that he could do no more for the youngling from where he was, and couldn't get to her in a timely enough fashion to actually help, he focused on strengthening the connection between them and trying to take the brunt of the pain onto himself.

Soundwave refused to examine his motives right then. Later, he would assign his actions to his role as a creator of his symbiotes. It was hardwired into every creator to protect their spawn, so that was what he was trying to do; protect a youngling that had some sort of spark connection with him.

He watched through her optics as a blur moved in front of her line of sight and heard it make soothing sounds, placing something malleable around her pinned arm and over her face to stop the acid from causing further damage.

“We can't lift the tanker off! Can you get the car seat out?” he heard someone ask the blur in front of her.

“No. Even if I could, both her legs are crushed and her arm is pinned,” the blur replied.

“Got the call from the doc; amputate,” another voice ordered.

“What?” the blur asked in horror.

“If you don't we're going to lose her! We've got gas leaking and an explosion imminent. Do it now!” the authority's voice ordered.

He felt the youngling's hand grab on to the blur in fear as he leaned away from her for a second. “Don't go!” she cried.

Soundwave felt his very spark break in sympathy at the utter terror in that voice.

“Shh baby. I'm not going anywhere,” the blur soothed as he pulled something apart in front of her.

“Now, this is going to make you sleepy,” he warned as he pricked her with a sharp implement. 

Soundwave felt the cold sensation invade the young femme's lines through their link and heard her cry out. Then, the unmistakable sound of a high powered blade cycling up preceded the breeze it generated as it approached her left arm. 

“Primus no!” the spymaster mouthed in the silence of space. He couldn't let her endure that, so he reached through their link and sent her into a deep recharge just as the blade touched her arm.

As the youngling slipped into her unconscious state, the link between them severed and left him alone again in space. He refused to dwell on that and focused instead on following the femme's progress throughout her ordeal. He needed to make certain she would be safe. The records indicating she would be placed in the care of her carrier's mech sibling eased his spark. After all, it was hardwired into all mechs to care for the younglings of kin.

VVVVVBREAKVVVVV

He was trapped. There was something painfully hot dripping onto his face plate and slowly leaking into his left audial and optic. He couldn’t see or hear out of them and he couldn’t move to get out from under the drip. 

His right optic was blurry and he heard a strange sound that reminded him of the wails of newly spawned hatchlings. Desperately, he tried to move and screamed out when his struggles were met with pain. His legs were pinned somehow, crushed, and so was his left arm. He could move the hand and elbow, but it was securely caught by the upper arm.

Finally, he saw the blurry shape of a head before him. The rescuer was making soothing sounds in a language he never heard before. The limbs attached to the head moved to put something soft and malleable around his shoulder and over the damaged side of his face. He felt a piercing sensation in his upper arm that soon began to numb it. Suddenly, he heard a sound he came to identify as Ratchet’s saw, and then felt the searing pain as it was applied to his upper arm above where it was pinned.

He screamed out in his own pain and heard the strange wailing sound match it. 

Jerking upright, the image went black and the pain disappeared. He looked around in confusion and saw the worried faces of Optimus, Jazz and Ratchet looking down at him. He was lying on the floor of the recreation area; several others paused in their activities to look at him in concern.

“Is he alright Ratchet?” Optimus asked worriedly.

“I don’t know,” he answered in confusion. “These readings are odd; his central processors are showing damage to both legs, left arm, optic and audial, but direct scans of them indicate full functionality.

“If I didn’t know any better, I’d say he was caught in a total cybernetic lock with someone who was experiencing those injuries.”

“How is that possible?” Jazz asked in confusion. “As far as I know, he isn’t a twin nor is he unified, unless he has been holding out on us. 

“So, did you go out and get unified before you left the planet and not tell anyone Bumblebee?”

Bumblebee looked down at his legs and ran a diagnostic. They were completely functional, so he tried to move them. When they responded to his commands, he felt relieved and searched for his left arm. It, his optic and audial all appeared to be fine, so he climbed to his feet. He swayed dangerously until Ratchet and Optimus caught him and held him steady.

“No,” he was finally able to answer Jazz. “No twin or unified.”

“Did you have an offspring before you left?” Ratchet asked

“No . . .” he started to answer before his vocal processor went out again.

“This is just too bizarre, let’s get him to the med bay so I can run more diagnostics,” Ratchet ordered.

Slowly, they helped the wobbly mech through the hatch and into the corridor. Without understanding why, he broke free and grabbed at the ledge of the window to look at the stars. Inextricably, his gaze was pulled toward a specific arm of an unfamiliar spiral galaxy.

I will find you, he swore from his spark. Primus help me, I will find you and you will never know that kind of pain again.


	2. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just an FYI - This story is already written. The chapters should be posted somewhat regularly as I get them back from my Beta and re-work some of the scenes. I found there were a few holes that need to be filled that this version will attempt to address. As always, thanks for reviewing!
> 
> LGTracy

LEGEND:

VVVVVBREAKVVVVV = Change in POV or time skip

[C “ _This is Cybertronian._ ” C] = Spoken Cybertronian

" _I probably shouldn't say that._ " = Thoughts

 

CHAPTER ONE:

 

2007

 

Metal was raining down from the rooftops, throughout the alley where the small waif hid. The falling sparks made eerie shadows on the walls, making the graffiti come alive in a grotesque dance. The larger body of the ‘bot protecting the child from the falling debris did not move from his position, no matter how heavy the load became.

 

With a loud clang, a metallic body fell onto the street to the child's right . . . more appropriately, a half of a metallic body. It was the upper half. Perhaps it was still functional? Or, at the very least, maybe it was salvageable.

 

She hoped so. As quickly as she could, the child ran to the massive being, ducking between Jukes’ body and arm. Zigging and zagging around the falling shrapnel, she cautiously approached from her hiding place between two stinking dumpsters, her metal friend following on two legs.

 

Pausing just long enough to burrow further into the gray hoody and ensure that her hair fell across the damaged side of her face, she entered the fallen ‘bot’s sensor range.

 

VVVVVBREAKVVVVV

 

He was dying. He could feel his Spark begin to stutter within him. He had literally been torn in two by the vile Decepticon. It wouldn't be long before his vital fluids would be drained and he would be nothing more than scrap for his fellow Autobots. Perhaps he could provide the replacement parts that would finally, decisively, win this long and unnecessary war. He knew that O.P. would mourn. Jazz didn't know of any other leader with a spark as big as his old friend's.

 

His optical sensors where beginning to fail, but his audio sensors where still just as acute as they ever were. That's how he knew he wasn't alone. The faintest scraping of rubber against the pavement alerted him to the presence of the human. Jazz didn't move. He was sorry the biological being would have to witness his death. But then again, this civilization did not yet have sentient robotic life forms, other than his kind, and they were just visiting.

 

This person would probably just try to make their way around him, thinking him nothing more than an inanimate mound of scrap. Maybe that was for the best. Witnessing the death of anyone or anything was tough enough. If they didn't know he was alive, perhaps they would not be as haunted as he was.

 

He heard the human stop just behind his head, then the sound of cloth being adjusted as they took a deep breath. They walked around as if to look him in the face.

 

How could that be? Maybe they were just trying to identify him. Determine if he was going to blow up or something. But no, this person stopped in front of his sensors.

 

The little input he received from his optics would seem to indicate this person was a femme sparkling, a rather small sparkling at that; perhaps no more than seven or eight Earth years. He could not get a clear visual on the features of her face. He didn't know if it was from his failing sensors, or the over-sized, hooded sweatshirt she was wearing over her face. A curtain of dark colored hair moved as she stopped and seemed to assess him. He noted she held her left arm a bit awkwardly, the smallest digit spasmodically jumping as if she had nerve damage.

 

“ _Primus, save her from watching me die,_ ” he silently prayed. Funny, he hadn't prayed in so long, and here he was praying for the sanity of a human femmeling.

 

VVVVVBREAKVVVVV

 

Ellie stopped in front of the face of the being. She knew he was sentient, and also knew that most would not believe her if she told them how. It was irrelevant. She was able to access the parts of the other's memories contained on the chip at will. So, she did that now as she assessed the fallen being's condition. A quick look at Jukes stopped him from approaching further.

 

“You are dying,” she said.

 

Jazz was certain the surprise was evident on his face. This young femme was addressing him as if she knew he was alive. Most humans did not, or would not, believe it possible that a non-biological life form could contain a consciousness. Perhaps she was still childish enough to believe in magic.

 

“Yes,” Jazz answered.

 

“I can help, if you'll let me.”

 

“Too late.

 

“Run. Not . . . safe,” he tried to warn her.

 

“Dude, I ain't been safe in a long time,” she said in all seriousness.

 

The sound of the round coming in was unmistakable. With little thought, he summoned his strength and grabbed the girl. Tucking her into his chest, he rolled over until he was sheltering her from the energy blast, using the wall of the building to further protect her. The energy round hit the building next to the one he was against, blowing pieces of concrete and bricks all around them.

 

When the last of the heavy debris landed, he released her.

 

“Go. Run,” he tried to warn her again.

 

Ellie looked into the alley to make sure Jukes was alright. He gave her a thumb’s up. “Not without you,” she told the ‘bot.

 

“Can't. Save . . . self.”

 

“I can save you too, if you'll let me. An' I really don't want to take the choice from you. So choose. Live or die.”

 

It took him mere seconds to run the calculations in his mind. If he allowed her to help him, he might be able to continue to fight the Decepticons. Just one variable was missing.

 

“How?” he asked.

 

“I can remove the essence matrix from your body before the cascade failures have the chance to destabilize it beyond saving. It will mean that you will be without a body for a while, until I can build you a new one. But, at least you'll still be alive.”

 

Wait a minute. How did she know about an essence matrix? And cascade failures? She was talking as if she knew about Cybertronian physiology. If she did know something about his frame, maybe she could help.

 

The other thing she mentioned, a new body? Did the humans have the technology to create their own Cybertronians? He didn't find data to support the probability. So, he wouldn't be able to transform. But, he could still think for himself, and thereby aid his friends in some way. Praying again that this sparkling might actually know how to repair him, or at least get him to someone who could, he made his decision.

 

“Do it,” he said as his optics finally failed. Jazz only hoped that she was in time.

 

Ellie quickly took the glove off her left hand; the metal of the fingers glinting from the light of his spark. Accessing memories she should not have, she concentrated on moving her hand in the precise sequence. The essence matrix retracted its connections from the body, and fell easily into her biological hand. The spark of light in the center, which had been flickering, regained a steady glow.

 

The whole thing was between the size of a softball and a small cantaloupe. Thankful again that she was able to find such an over-sized shirt, she put her new prized possession in the pocket and climbed over the remains of the mighty metallic warrior.

 

As she landed, she heard the approach of metallic feet. She wasn't about to stick around and find out who they belonged to.

 

“Jukes! Let’s get out of here!” She cried as she ran back into the alley. Mounting Jukes’ minibike form, they drove into the street; Ellie was able to follow the crowd as they raced away from the battle. Turning into an alley when the rest of the crowd remained on the main street, she cut across to the parallel street. She stopped short when she saw the teen run into the front of a Cadillac Escalade. She felt, more than saw the jolt of living energy wave out of the cube he held in his hands. Within a matter of moments, the teen ran on without realizing he left three new lives behind him.

 

Taking in the scene, she saw a man in a hat holding what started its existence as a microwave, its new arms flailing blindly through the box. There was also a soda machine using its product as ammunition to fire against everyone it saw. Hearing screams coming from the street, Ellie saw a group of teen girls jumping from the now alive Escalade. The girls abandoning him, the Escalade transformed into a robotic form, armaments sprouting from his shoulders, arms and torso.

 

“This is going to be really bad,” Ellie said to her companion.

 

“Then let’s leave while we can,” suggested Jukes, even though he already knew they would be staying to try and help.

 

The new robot swung around to acquire a target, fortunately, everyone in the area had run off, the man with the microwave-bot dropping it and joining them.

 

Ellie dismounted and stepped out into the field of view of the soda machine and the car, raising her good hand in a show of surrender. Jukes reassumed his ‘bot form and armed with throwing knives as he assumed a protective posture.

 

“Hey guys!” she called to them.

 

Immediately, they leveled their weapons at the two. The new ‘bots didn’t fire. Cautiously, so as not to startle them, she squatted down and helped the microwave remove the box he was in. As the box fell off him, he jumped free and immediately started to track potential targets. When he saw the girl, he paused and assessed her. He remembered she helped him get out of the box. He disarmed.

 

Chattering among themselves, they appeared to come to a collective agreement. They chattered at Ellie.

 

“I don’t understand that language. Speak English?” she asked them.

 

They chattered at each other again. The Escalade was the first to speak to Ellie.

 

“You help little one. You no scare?”

 

“Yes, I’m a little scared. You guys have weapons, I don’t. That’s hardly fair, now isn’t it?” she asked them.

 

The three chattered at each other again. The microwave deciding he liked Ellie, walked over to her on crablike legs and hugged her around the calf, making a cooing sound as he did.

 

The girl smiled down at her new friend. Hearing the sound of mechanical components being ratcheted into position, she looked up to see the other two disarming. Jukes gave them each one last look, and then disarmed as well.

 

“No more weapons. You still scared?” asked the Escalade. His English was getting more correct as he spoke to her.

 

“Yes, a little.”

 

“Of us?” the car asked, incredulous.

 

“Not so much. I’m trying to run away from a bad man who wants to hurt me. Can you guys help me?”

 

The trio chattered at each other. Immediately, the microwave-bot jumped away from Ellie and armed, looking for the man who wanted to hurt her.

 

“We help. Keep you safe,” the soda machine said.

 

“What do you need us to do?” asked the Escalade.

 

“Can you turn back into a car?” asked Ellie.

 

Thinking about it for a minute, the robot reassumed his form as a Cadillac Escalade. Opening his doors to the group, he revved his engine.

 

Ellie reached down and picked up the little robot. “Maybe you should get into the back where you’ll have more room,” she told the soda machine as she climbed in to the front passenger seat. Jukes got in the back seat directly behind her. Snapping her seatbelt into place, the Escalade closed his doors and began to drive out of town toward the interstate.

 

“Where are we going?” he asked.

 

“Head toward Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania,” she said.

 

VVVVVBREAKVVVVV

 

Shortly out of town, they found the remains of another ‘bot, its human like form still twitching as it died.

 

“Stop!” Ellie cried. She jumped out of the front seat and ran to the being. She looked into his torso and saw the essence matrix light was still sparking, the living energy reluctantly leaving his body.

 

Making the decision for him, she reached into his chest and removed his essence matrix as well, the sound of sirens cutting off her chance to retrieve any more from him.

 

VVVVVBREAKVVVVV

 

Barricade was incensed at the message he received from Soundwave; extraction impossible? Implement Omega protocol?

 

No way in Hell, as the humans would say, would he self-destruct. He would bide his time and wait for either a Decepticon or a human insect to come along and put him back on his wheels. Then, he would pick his time carefully and make Soundwave pay.

 

He knew what this was about; Soundwave was jealous. Barricade was second in line behind Megatron, so if he was gone, Soundwave would get his place. Let him have it, for the moment. He would survive and disappear, and quietly gather the ever growing factions of disillusioned Decepticons under his leadership.

 

Even Megatron didn’t realize how out of touch he was becoming. The ideals of the ‘bots he would lead were changing, they were starting to embrace an ideology that was somewhere between the Autobots’ naïve absolute self-determination belief, and Megatron’s self-delusional grandiose belief in peace through tyranny.

 

The sound of tires approaching interrupted his self-contained rant. A quick scan of the approaching beings baffled him; he was picking up four distinct Energon life forms that he didn’t recognize, and a definite human profile . . . with a cybernetic signature? How was this possible? All of the Energon beings carried a Neutral/non-declared signature, and he didn't know of any neutral that had made the trip to this planet. Was it possible these were recent hatchlings?

 

It seemed unlikely; there wasn’t enough Energon around here to nourish a microcon. Unless, and this was a very real possibility, the humans had used the Allspark to create their own robotic life forms. If that was the case, it was highly probable the humans didn’t know what they had done.

 

VVVVVBREAKVVVVV

 

Ellie had the Escalade, whom she christened, “Clyde,” pull over when she saw the cop car on its roof over an embankment. It was hidden from public view by a building and a row of overgrown hedges along the street. If they had not made the detour through the construction zone, she doubted they would have seen it as well.

 

“Hey guys. That’s a ‘bot down there,” she said. Accepting the energy signature her optic picked up as true.

 

“He in trouble,” the soda machine, now named, “Soto,” agreed.

 

“Shall we help?” asked Clyde.

 

“We need all the friends we can make. I say we help,” Ellie decided.

 

The microwave ‘bot, Mike, chattered.

 

“He no like stopping,” Soto translated.

 

“A ‘bot after my own spark,” muttered Jukes.

 

“Ordinarily, I would agree. However, we can’t afford to leave him here where the government will turn him into an experiment.”

 

The group climbed out of the Escalade and started down the embankment, the car re-assuming his ‘bot form and following.

 

Jukes headed the group off. “We can’t afford to stop, Ellie. Have you forgotten it’s only a matter of time before _he_ sends someone after you?”

 

“I have to help him. I can’t let them get him.

 

“Besides, maybe he can help us stay hidden.”

 

“This is a really bad idea,” Jukes counseled as he turned around and led the way down the hill. He armed with a spiked club and a throwing knife.

 

VVVVVBREAKVVVVV

 

“I would ask if you’re alright, but you probably wouldn’t be here if you were,” Ellie said by way of greeting as she neared the police car.

 

“So, instead, how about if I ask you this; can you still roll if you’re on your wheels?”

 

“Yes, I can still function in my alt form.

 

“Put me back on my wheels and I’ll show you how well, you human insect!” Barricade bellowed.

 

How dare she address him as an equal? He was a warrior; a great leader of the Decepticons. He was the one, if the truth were to ever be known, who gave Megatron the idea to change Cybertronian society.

 

The sound of the three other ‘bots arming themselves stopped his train of thought. What were they doing? His sensors pinging at him as targeting locks engaged him as their enemy.

 

The smallest ‘bot scolding him in his chattering language, [C“ _You’re mean!_ ”C] he said.

 

[C“ _We stop to help you out, and you call us names and make bad words._ ” C]

 

“Easy guys,” the girl said. “Put the weapons away. You too Jukes.”

 

After a few brief moments, the ‘bots complied, the smallest ‘bot chattering a foul opinion of the idea.

 

“Clyde?” the girl asked the largest ‘bot. “Can you lift me to see his underside please?”

 

Clyde complied.

 

“Oh!” she exclaimed.

 

“You were really messed up in your ‘bot form, weren’t you?”

 

“Why would you say that?” Barricade asked.

 

“Because these damages aren’t consistent with any damages you could have gotten while in your car form.

 

“My guess is that you were injured when you were a ‘bot, then transformed into your car form and got stuck.”

 

Barricade was begrudgingly impressed with her assessment. He did not feel the need to answer her statement, and when she continued, knew that he was correct in his judgment.

 

“So, here’s the deal; we’ll get you back on your wheels if you are willing to come with us for a while. Then, when we find a safe place to hide for any length of time, I’ll repair you and you can go about your business.

 

“Does that sound fair?”

 

“Agreed! Now please get me out of this undignified position.”

 

“Clyde, Soto, Jukes. Please put him back on his wheels.”

 

The three made little work of putting him upright. They were not overly gentle about it either.

 

Once the group made its way onto the street, they got on their way towards Pittsburgh.


	3. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize for forgetting this chapter when I initially saved it. For those who skipped from chapter 1 straight to chapter 3, this is what you missed. It was added into sequence on 27 June, 2016.

“I really shouldn't say that.” = Thoughts

CHAPTER TWO:

PRESENT DAY

Bumblebee was injured. There was a massive reduction in the hydraulic pressure of his right leg. He continued to fire at the Decepticon as he went down, crushing the minicon who had severed the line under his weight as he landed. Still, its partner attacked, now that Bee was on his level, it went after the lower power conduit in his abdomen, undoubtedly trying to cause a short that would kill him. 

With barely more than a flick of his wrist, he pinched the head of the annoyance and destroyed it with a shower of hydraulic fluid. Unfortunately, it had managed to damage the servo controlling panel in his other leg. In disgust, he threw its now dead body against the wall of the abandoned factory across the coal pit. 

The battle had moved to the other side of the factory, so he started to crawl toward it. It would probably be over by the time he got there, but at least Ratchet wouldn’t have to look for him. He had made about fifty yards when he caught a glimpse of movement between the coal piles to his right. Levering himself up onto his left arm, he brought his ion cannon to bear and tracked the movement of the figure. 

He didn’t shoot when he identified the target as a small human. Cautiously, it looked around to make sure there were no other threats nearby, and then it quickly ran to him.

“I’m here to help,” she said through the helmet she wore. She swung a backpack around in front of her and set it on the ground between them.

Bumblebee scanned what he could of the contents, and determined there was nothing in it that was of immediate threat to him. This must be the girl who had been aiding them recently. The thought was confirmed when, without even pausing a second, she was examining his abdominal wound and reaching in to turn off the power to the damaged panel. 

VVVVVBREAKVVVVV

Ellie pulled a small pry bar out from her hoody pocket and popped the cover off. Inside, the damage wasn’t that bad, it just required some liquid metal to reconnect the severed circuits. With her bad hand, she focused on holding the panel cover with the slice through it as she turned the power back on to the panel. The current arced around the repair as it set the metal in place, then disappeared. Satisfied, she glanced at his injured leg and noticed that the hydraulic fluid leak was already stopped.

“That will hold you till your medic can properly tend to it.” She handed him the cover. “I’m leaving it open so he doesn’t have to fiddle with removing the cover. It shouldn’t be a major issue.

“As to your leg, it just needs a new hydraulic line and probably should replace the cables. I’m afraid that I don’t have the proper equipment with me to do that.”

The sound of the others returning was unmistakable. Quickly, she grabbed her bag and started back in the direction from which she approached.

“Wait!” Bumblebee said. “Who are you?” he asked through the multitude of recordings he was able to harvest from the planet’s various media.

“A friend,” she said as she ran into the coal piles.

VVVVVBREAKVVVVV

Sideswipe was the first to see the human with a neon blue motorcycle helmet run into the piles of coal. Hearing the exchange between Bumblebee and the human, he took a moment to check on his friend.

“I’m fine!” Bumblebee confirmed. “Go get him killer,” he quoted.

That was all he needed to know. Sideswipe alt formed and roared off into the coal piles after the human. The sound of the minibike motor was easy to follow. Unbelievably, she was roaring off toward the fence at the far end of the coal pit. Radioing back to the others, he accelerated and was almost on her when he resumed his ‘bot form. In a move that completely took him by surprise, the girl made a one-eighty, practically laying her bike down to do so and roared right back through his legs. Unprepared, Sideswipe did a front flip to disguise the fact he tripped and alt formed again to continue the chase.

“This little bitch is going down!” he vowed to himself. No one made a fool of him and got away with it.

He found her about thirty yards behind him, roaring through a broken gate that led to the parking lot. Changing to his ‘bot form, he easily jumped over the fence and was back into his alt form before he landed. He chased her through the parking lot toward the abandoned railroad tracks that ran along the side. Gaining with every passing second, he was almost on her again when she jumped onto the tracks and began to follow them away from the lot. Not to be lost so easily, he ‘bot formed and began to chase her. He had to admit that she had unusual skill to be able to keep the chase going for this long, until he realized the minibike had an Energon signature and was riding the rails without the proper wheels. 

Unfortunately, he was no longer gaining on them in this form. Since there were no roads that ran parallel to the tracks, he could not assume his alt form and reduce the distance again. Just as they began to out distance him, they jumped off the track and rode down the hill toward an alley perpendicular and right into an old industrial complex.

“I've got your punk ass now,” Sideswipe thought. He radioed his coordinates to Optimus and the others as he jumped onto the alley and alt formed. 

Even though he lost sight of them, he could still hear the unmistakable motor. It was easy enough to follow, and he was really mad now. This was ending right now. He raced as fast as he could toward the sound and was just in time to see her neon blue helmet disappearing behind a pile of cinder blocks. He roared headlong straight at them and transformed at the last possible second to jump over it. Before he resumed his alt form, he caught sight of her entering an abandoned warehouse.

“Wait, did I see her actually look back for me? Well, I'm right on your ass, sweetheart,” he thought. 

He radioed to the others for the last time, ignoring Optimus Prime's order to wait for backup. There was no way he was letting this human bitch get away from him this time.

The sound of the motor revving echoed inside of the building and then it got quiet. Sideswipe approached with caution. He transformed and put his audial receptors close to the building. He could barely hear the sound of the motor idling inside.

“So,” he thought. “It's soundproofed in some way.” 

He reached out with his hand and swung the door wide as he jumped inside and assumed a defensive stance. Almost immediately, he realized he wasn't receiving any communiqué’s from the others. It had some sort of a dampening measure surrounding it as well. What the hell was going on here?

Scanning the interior, he found a cot with a sleeping bag on it under the stairs to the right, a wooden crate with a laptop on it at its head and a table in the center with several machines on it he had never seen before. Toward the middle of the room, there were several vinyl sheets hung on old, abandoned laundry buggies so they could move independently. It reminded him of an old fashioned portable clean room measure.

It appeared that several car batteries had been modified in some way to provide power for the laptop and create an electromagnetic field around the place to hide the space from most scans. In the same instant he assessed the room; he found the target of his pursuit sitting on her transformer friend at an open door to the left. The sign beside it said, “Stairs to Boiler Room.”

VVVVVBREAKVVVVV

Ellie turned her head to make sure the transformer saw her enter the warehouse. She rode through the door and didn't bother to make sure it was closed; she wouldn't be back here again. Jukes drove her to the door of the escape route and revved his motor a couple more times to make sure the ‘bot knew where to find them. They idled and waited. It didn't take long before the ‘bot swung open the door and jumped inside like he was some sort of ninja or something.

“Good,” she thought. “I made him mad enough to not follow standard procedure.”

Ellie knew the instant he found where she was sitting. Only one thing left to do for this phase, and then it was on to the next.

“It's about time you guys found me,” she said. “You took eighteen hours longer than I was hoping you would.”

“Sorry to keep you waiting. I must have misplaced the invitation,” he said in a sarcastic manner.

“I'm sorry. I had to make sure you were mad enough to follow me. It was nothing personal.

“I don't have much time, so listen closely; the guys will tell you all you need to know about me,” she said as she motioned her chin toward the table with the holo preservers on it. “The spidrobots will show you around the base, and the only suggestion I can give you is to please make sure you fully analyze my technology before you let the government get their hands on it. 

“One last thing,” she said as Jukes began to let the clutch out and drift forward. “No doctors around me. Ever!”

With that, they were through the door and down into the basement, weaving through the labyrinth toward the passage to the storm sewer. She ignored his shouts to stop in a most colorful language.

VVVVVBREAKVVVVV

Sideswipe was still shouting profanities down the stairwell when backup arrived. 

Optimus Prime arrived at the coordinates with his engines roaring, releasing his trailer as he ‘bot formed and armed himself with his battle ax and ion blaster. Jolt and Mirage followed suit as they took up positions on either side of their leader. Hot Rod paused just long enough to let Wheelie out before he also ‘bot formed and armed.

“Hey! What’s the big deal?” asked Wheelie as he pushed himself up onto his feet. He didn’t appreciate being thrown across the parking lot like a bowling ball.

“Shh!” admonished Jolt.

“Easy for you to say! You didn’t just go rolling across the freakin’ parking lot.”

“Quiet!” Mirage and Hot Rod said in unison.

“Who’s gonna hear me over Sideswipe?”

“I hear you,” answered Optimus.

“Sideswipe!” Optimus ordered. “Report.”

Sideswipe stopped yelling and smacked the frame of the door. “I lost her, dammit!!” 

“Lost who?” asked Optimus as he cautiously entered the building. He noticed he had to stoop to enter through the door, but had no problem standing to his full height once inside. He realized he could probably have comfortably rolled through the entrance in his alt form.

“That bitch who led me here!” Sideswipe said. He was getting upset again.

“Calm down. 

“Who led you here?” asked Optimus Prime.

“The female who has been helping patch up the wounded in our battles the last three weeks.”

“You saw her?” asked Wheelie. “Is she as hot as I imagined she’d be?”

“Wheelie,” Optimus admonished.

“What? I’m just sayin’ she must be hot to run into battle to administer first aid is all.”

“I’m thinking more along the lines of stupid,” Mirage added. A look from his leader silenced him.

“Did you get the chance to recon the place before you came running in here after her?” Optimus asked Sideswipe.

“It has some sort of dampening field around it. I did a quick optic/thermal scan and didn’t find anything menacing,” he sounded belligerent, even to his own audials.

“Sorry,” he conceded.

“Autobots, recon. 

“Wheelie, set up a remote communications link on the pile of blocks out there, Mirage, Hot Rod, external sweep, the rest of us, inside. Watch yourselves.”

The team fanned out according to the orders of Optimus Prime. They assumed the easy efficiency of a battle hardened group long used to fighting and scouting together.

“I’m getting Energon readings, Optimus,” informed Jolt.

“Levels?”

“Either very small ‘bots or traces of some sort.”

“Investigate.”

As Jolt went about locating the source of the Energon readings, Sideswipe started looking into the human sized doors on the left side of the building where he lost the girl. Optimus spared a quick scan of the table in the middle of the front part of the space, noted the odd machines and manila folders neatly stacked in a pile in one corner, and cautiously approached the makeshift vinyl dividers.

“I should probably report that the girl talked to me,” stated Sideswipe.

“Yes, you should.

“What did she say?”

Sideswipe replayed the audio recording of the girl’s conversation with him.

“Her pitch would indicate that she is rather young. Why would she ever be in a place like this?” wondered Optimus out loud.

“Run away?” guessed Jolt.

Optimus reached the divided section of the space and easily towered over the vinyl sheets. What he saw surprised as well as horrified him.


	4. Chapter 3

CHAPTER THREE:

 

          “Primus, no!” Optimus exclaimed. This couldn’t be what it appeared, not if all of the reports he had about the girl were to be believed.

 

          Before him, about a one third section of the factory warehouse space was separated. It appeared to be a makeshift clean room; mechanical hand tools neatly placed along shelves placed against the walls. On a makeshift table, there was some poor ‘bot’s spark inside of some machine with cables running to it, and lying on a floor covered by more white sheets, was a half destroyed ‘bot body.

 

          “Wheelie! Notify Ratchet we need him. We have a casualty.”

 

          Sideswipe came running .

 

          “What?” called Jolt.

 

          “I knew that little bitch was evil,” stated Sideswipe.

 

          “We can’t do anything more for this poor ‘bot now. Let’s continue with our recon,” Optimus decided.

 

          With one more look at the horrific scene inside of the clean room, Optimus walked along the outside of the sheets and quickly investigated the rest of the space. It was empty beyond that point save for regular trash and enough scrap metal to make at least one more ‘bot about his own size. On the way back on the opposite side of the ghastly section, he found a small space tucked under the end of a catwalk that looked to be growing crystals.

 

          He picked up a small plastic jar with a red lid on it. He read the word “Alum.” He carefully placed it back in its spot. There were four more jars of various sizes along the crystal farm with different names on them. He extrapolated that the jars were in their particular positions to indicate the type of crystals the girl was growing. Some of them, he knew, were used in the creation of microchips and other technology. All of them were used to make various materials needed in the building of advanced technology, especially Cybertronian technology.

 

          This confused him. All reports he received about the girl would indicate that she was trying to help. The crystal farm would also support that theory. If that was the case, then why would she destroy one of them? Unless . . .

 

          He looked again over the sheets bordering the area. The body was closer to him from this angle. He looked a little more closely at the part of the body that was exposed by the coverings. His optics picked up the outline of twin depressions in the sheets closest to him, as if the girl was resting her arms there for a long time as she reached into the hole in the ‘bot’s chest.

 

          Could it be? Was she really trying to create a body for whomever the spark belonged too? It was the only thing that made sense to him.

 

          “Boss! Ratchet and the rest of his team’s here,” Wheelie called in from outside.

 

          Optimus disarmed and walked back to the front of the building. One by one, the rest of his team came back with all clear’s, except for Jolt who had three small ‘bots cornered near the laptop. He saw one was cowering under the pillow, its thin legs shaking, one was peaking at them curiously from over the laptop’s screen and the last one was out in the open, his two front legs crossed and tapping one of his rear legs. His very posture was quite along the lines of, “Well? You going to keep staring at us or can we actually do something?” Optimus decided he liked the little thing’s spunk.

 

          “Are you the spidrobots?” Optimus asked of the apparent leader.

 

          The little ‘bot nodded then pointedly looked at Jolt’s weapon.

 

          “Jolt, stand down.”

 

          “You sure about that Prime?”

 

          “I am. The girl told Sideswipe they were here. If they meant us any harm, they would have done it by now.”

 

          “What do you want me to tell these guys to do, boss?” Wheelie called into the building.

 

          “They can come in. I’m curious about their opinions about this place.”

 

          “You said there was a casualty here?” Ratchet asked as he entered. He looked around the space with open curiosity as he helped Bumblebee limp into the building.

 

          “We have apparently found the base of operations of the first aid female.

 

          “In the area over there separated by the sheets is some ‘bot’s spark and a half-finished body.”

 

          “What?” Ratchet said as he handed Bumblebee off to Hot Rod and rushed over.

 

          “What happened to you?” Optimus asked his wounded soldier.

 

          “Damn . . . ‘Con . . . bit . . . my leg,” he pieced together.

 

          “So, what are we going to do about the girl?” asked Sideswipe.

 

          “You said you lost her through the boiler room door?” asked Optimus.

 

          “Yeah. The little bitch and the ‘bot she was with escaped down those stairs,” he pointed.

 

          “She had a ‘bot with her?”

 

          “Yeah. He wasn’t anyone I recognized.”

 

          “Wheelie! Have Brains take over the communications, I have a mission for you,” Optimus said to the little ‘bot as he came into the building.

 

          “I get a mission? For real?” Wheelie asked, hopefully.

 

          “Yes. Sideswipe lost the girl through the boiler room. None of us are small enough to fit down through the door except for you. What I need you to do is see if you can pick up her trail. Be careful. She is apparently traveling with another ‘bot that we don’t know.”

 

          “I’m on it, Boss!” he exclaimed.

 

          The whole way across the floor he was muttering about finally getting a real mission and how he was going to do such a great job until he was out of audial range down the stairs.

 

VVVVVBREAKVVVVV

 

          Ratchet stopped short when he got to the area Optimus indicated. He could easily see over the makeshift curtains. He knew a med-clinic when he saw one, and this definitely was one. With great care and awe, he parted two of the curtains and went inside. On a makeshift table covered with a white sheet, there sat a piece of machinery he couldn’t identify. In its center, the unmistakable glow of a spark. It had cables connecting it to the machine. It glowed steadily, so he assumed the device was some sort of generator, or life saver of some kind.

 

          He didn’t notice the sound of small, metallic feet scurrying across the floor until he saw one of the spidrobots pop up on the table. It appeared to be the one from behind the laptop.

 

          “Well, hello there little friend,” Ratchet greeted.

 

          The little ‘bot waved at him.

 

          “You don’t have vocal processors, do you?”

 

          The little ‘bot shook his head.

 

          “Do you know what this device is surrounding this Spark?”

 

          With that, the little ‘bot got behind the Plexiglas pane with the top and pushed it closed. He crawled inside and made sure that a silicone sock, fastened between the piece from the top of the Spark that appeared to be damaged and the connection point of the box, properly aligned the pieces. He then, like he was folding the petals of a flower, pushed the remaining sides up and made certain that the adhesive along the top had a tight fit. Satisfied, he crawled down to the base of the machine and hit the power button.

 

          The machine glowed a few minutes, and then a light started to flash out of its top. The spidrobot then dragged a metal square piece over to the machine and made certain of its orientation in relation to the base, and tried to lift it onto the Plexiglas cube. Guessing what he was trying to do, Ratchet lifted it into place.

 

          “Like this?” he asked.

 

          The ‘bot nodded.

 

          It clicked into place with a soft snap. Suddenly, the light stopped flashing and took the form of a ‘bot. After a few seconds, Ratchet was staring at the holographic image of one of his dearest friends; Ironhide.

 

          The shock of seeing his old friend startled poor Ratchet so much, he backed up and tripped over the buggy serving as the curtain coaster. It crushed beneath his weight.

 

          “Optimus! Turn them on! Turn them on!” he yelled as he tried to climb to his feet and crawl to the makeshift table with the other devices at the same time.

 

          “Turn what on?” Optimus asked.

 

          Not wanting to explain, he lurched to his feet three yards from the table and pushed the button of the first device he came to.

 

          “It’s them! They’re not dead! It’s them!” Ratchet could not contain his excitement as he turned the devices on as quickly as he could.

 

          The devices began to flicker then holographic images solidified one by one above them. First was Arcee, then her sisters, and finally Jazz.

 

VVVVVBREAKVVVVV

 

          Optimus stared in amazement at his old friend. Surely, this was some sort of trick. This couldn’t be Jazz. He was dead, Optimus held his lifeless body in his arms. He knew he was dead. But, no, this was a holographic image of his oldest and dearest friend.

 

          A few seconds later, as he familiarized himself with his surroundings after being turned on, Jazz located Optimus Prime and spoke.

 

          “You still owe me six ingots Optimus,” he said.

 

          “No! This can’t be. I saw your lifeless body almost six years ago,”

 

          “Gee! I guess time flies when you’re dead, doesn’t it ladies?” Jazz asked the girls.

 

          “Guess so,” agreed Chromia.

 

          “Where’s Ellie?” asked Elita One.

 

          “Who is ‘Ellie?’” asked Optimus Prime.

 

          “Remember the plan,” reminded Arcee.

 

          “She is correct Optimus,” Ironhide said from Ratchet’s hands as he brought him back from the clean area.

 

          “Ironhide? Is it really you?” asked Optimus Prime.

 

          “It is.

 

          “I’m certain that you have a lot of questions, unfortunately, we don’t have a whole lot of time to answer them all.

 

          “The most important questions that I can answer at the moment are this; Ellie is a brilliant human child who saved all of our lives, as well as the lives of several Decepticons, through her technology. She will share it with you when you meet with her tomorrow.”

 

          “We were able to convince her to contact you when it was apparent she was unable to repair Ironhide,” Elita One added.

 

          “What’s wrong with Ironhide?” asked Sideswipe.

 

          “Don’t you mean, ‘What’s right with Ironhide?’’’ Jazz quipped.

 

          “When he was ‘killed,’” Jazz continued, making quote marks in the air with his fingers. “The way he was injured severed the upper connection interface from his spark. Now, if he’s on for too long, he starts to overheat and short out. We usually know it’s coming because he starts talking even more weird than normal.”

 

          “We’ll settle this in the ring when we get back to the lair,” Ironhide informed Jazz.

 

          “Anyway,” Ironhide continued. “Ellie gave us the coordinates she wants you to meet her at by eighteen hundred, local, tomorrow.”

 

          “In all seriousness, though, Optimus,” Jazz continued. “I’ve been trying to get her to contact you for the past several Earth years. Particularly, Ratchet.”

 

          “Why me?” asked Ratchet.

 

          “Because she doesn’t trust anyone even remotely connected to the government,” answered Arcee.

 

          “And,” added Jazz, “she’s sick.”

 

          “In what way?” asked Ratchet. This was intriguing to him that his longtime friends and comrades would think of him above even human medical professionals to care for an ailing human child.

 

          True, he had downloaded everything he could about human anatomy and biology he could get his optics on, but still, he was not that familiar with human medical procedures. He was humbled by the faith his old friends demonstrated in him.

 

          “I don’t know what the medical malarkey is to say it, but she keeps getting headaches and loosing vital lubricants from her audial receptors and nose,” said Jazz.

 

          “She also keeps breaking her shoulder,” added Elita One.

 

          “Don’t forget the fact she has cybernetic limbs,” reminded Chromia.

 

          “What? Do you mean prostheses?” asked Ratchet.

 

          “No. I mean actual cybernetic limbs with Cybertronian signatures,” confirmed Chromia.

 

          “Optimus?” addressed Arcee. “She also bears the mark of Uriel on her left shoulder.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So . . . this is the next chapter my Beta and I have re-edited for you. Please let me know what you think. Also, wasn't sure if there should have been humans in with the 'Bots on this mission or not, am up for suggestions! Playing devil's advocate, could use the distinctive lack of humans as a foreshadowing tool to show that there is a falling out between the human governments and the Autobots. What do you think? As always let me know!


	5. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For those who have been following this story, I (tried to) add the missing chapter 2 back into it's correct spot. So, if you are one of those readers who just skp to the end, you might want to go back and read it.
> 
> On another note, let me know if this chapter is too short, just right or too long. Was seriously debating adding a few extended scenes.
> 
> LGTracy

CHAPTER FOUR:

This was too much. Optimus stood staring at Arcee dumbfounded. His friends and comrades were, by some miracle, alive. This Ellie girl had given them back. He did not know how grateful he could feel toward another being until that moment. Then, to learn that she was also sick, and bore the mark of such a being . . . it was unbelievable.

“Who’s that?” asked Jolt.

“According to the archives, Uriel was the god of the Primes.” Optimus started slowly. “The few stories about him I found referred to him as the father of the Primes, and also the father of both Primus and Unicron.”

“How . . . can . . . a god . . . be the father of . . . both good and evil?” asked Bumblebee.

“I’m not sure. About the only thing known about him was written in the archives. The only other title associated with him was 'The Originator'.

“As to Primus and Unicron; the myths written about them don’t go into too much detail about why they started to fight. The written history about why was too conflicting to even hazard a guess.”

“Typical,” muttered Jolt.

“Yeah, this is all well and dandy,” steered Ratchet. “But what about the girl?”

“Right,” Jazz answered. “She left something for you that she promised would answer whatever questions she figured you’d have.”

Optimus refocused his attention back to the plight of the girl. Ratchet was right. If the girl was ill, they had to do whatever they could to protect her. Especially if she was who he thought she might be.

“Where is it?” asked Hot Rod.

“The computer over there. Bring it and Silks over here.”

“Silks?” asked Sideswipe.

“Yeah. She’s the colorful spidrobot that is super timid. This is Spinner over here. He’s the leader of these guys. Spiral is the green one who helps out in the clinic.”

Hot Rod picked up the computer and Silks climbed on top, holding the pillow over her back. He shook his head at the idea that a puny pillow would provide any protection for such a little ‘bot.

“We were able to formulate a plan that would get her on your radar and make you curious enough to follow when you found her,” informed Arcee.

“Then, about six Earth months ago, she bought this place and put it in the name of my online I.D., and two months ago, she moved us in here and set up shop,” continued Jazz.

“What do you mean about an online I.D.?” asked Optimus.

“Well, Ellie is loaded. She is the only orphaned kid of two very wealthy people, and she was able to divert some of the money they left her into several accounts in our ‘names’,” again, Jazz made the air quotes.

“My online persona is Jay Zack Talbot. She set up a paper trail for me that goes all the way back to the early seventies and set up several accounts that total over three quarters of a billion dollars. She has me as being a higher up in a bogus company called Autotronix. All the financial info for me, the girls, Ironhide and the company are in those files,” Jazz pointed at the manila folders.

Mirage picked them up and began to scan them. “Impressive. She certainly knows how to move money. No?” he said as he handed the documents to Optimus Prime.

He looked at them without really understanding what they meant. The whole idea about currency exchange was baffling to him. He handed them off to Bumblebee who seemed to be quite impressed.

As they had been talking, Hot Rod sat the laptop and the spidrobot, Silks, on the table in the center of the machines. Forgetting about how scared she was, Silks dropped her pillow and set about setting up the computer. She plugged in a memory stick into one of the ports and tapped on Jazz’s machine to get his attention.

“Oh? Ready already huh beautiful?” Jazz flirted.

Silks shyly picked up a corner of the pillowcase and looked over it at Jazz’s holo image.

“Turn it on for me, Babe,” he instructed.

Silks sashayed over to the laptop and turned the power on, looking over her shoulders at him in a way that can only be described as coyly. Hearing the beep as the laptop powered up, she forgot her flirtation and jumped to the ready over the keyboard.

The code that came up on the computer filled up the screen and began to stream. Jazz began to instruct her on what buttons to push. She would enter the code and the screen would flash, then another code would fill up the screen and Jazz would direct more buttons be pushed two more times before the encryption was complete.

“What was that?” asked Hot Rod.

“Viral encryption,” answered Jazz.

“That sounds… quite painful,” Bumblebee played a clip from a movie.

Silks then connected the computer to the machine in the middle of the table and turned it on. As it fired to life, it became apparent that it was also a holo projector. Returning to the computer, she hit the “play” button on the screen and sat back to watch with the rest of the assembled group.

VVVVVBREAKVVVVV

Above the table, the image of a man in a wheelchair came into view; projected onto three holo screens arranged in a triangle so everyone could see. He began to speak to the camera:

“My name is Dr. Alistair Carlisle. Today is October twenty-first two thousand four. Following is a video documentary of all experiments, procedures and results of a newly designated project, code name; Maimed Angel.”

The view changed to show a small girl lying nude beneath a green sheet on a hospital table. Dr. Carlisle’s voice continued from behind the camera.

“This is the subject. Name is Urielle Loraine Guardian. Subject is a three year old female experiencing a triple amputation of both lower extremities and the left upper extremity as the result of a car accident. The additional damage to the left orbital and auditory regions was the result of sulfuric acid dripping onto the subject’s face before extraction. Subject has been in a medically induced coma for the past seventeen days due to the extreme pain of said injuries.

“The subject is being readied for a surgical procedure to implant computer microchips from donor, designation; NBE 1, reference project; Iceman, into the subject’s brain in the motor function control area. Additionally, the subject will be fitted with new, cybernetic extremities also manufactured from alloys harvested from NBE 1, as well as an optic sensor to replace the damaged eye, and an audial implant to replace the ruptured and scarred eardrum and canal, that were also built from harvested NBE 1 technology.”

The voice of the doctor continued as the video captured green clad figures in masks shaving the child’s head, exposing the horribly disfigured and barely healed limbs that were then marked with black markers . . . and exposing the mark of Uriel on her left shoulder, well below where they would be operating.

The video shut off with a flicker, and then came back into focus obviously in the actual operating room where the medical team surrounded the girl and had her draped in more green cloth. The only flesh exposed was her head, with a tube at her mouth, neck, which had an IV stuck into the artery and the areas that were to be operated on.

“Having been prepared, the subject is now under general anesthesia and the neurosurgeon will now make his incision into the scalp over the designated areas.”

The video zoomed in on the neurosurgeon’s work and the host continued to drone on as the flesh, then skull itself was cut away to reveal the gray matter of the child’s brain. When the camera brought the chips that were about to be inserted into focus, Ratchet could not contain his opinions any longer.

“Oh no! Not that way. Please not like that!” he whispered as the video showed the first chip being inserted.

“OK. That one’s right,” he said with the second one.

“That one’s upside down!

“How do you put that chip in backward?

“Well that’s good. At least she isn’t going to need a wheelchair.

“Are you people morons? That one’s sideways!

“Good. Good, that one’s right.”

Ratchet continued to comment on the placement of the chips until all twenty-three were in place. In all, by his estimation, only six were placed correctly.

The next part of the video showed the neurosurgeon gluing pieces of metal over the fractures he had cut into her skull. “The metal alloys being adhered to the subject’s skull are harvested from NBE 1’s interior shielding. Tests have revealed this alloy to be extremely light, as well as self-regenerating at an alarming rate. Given the subject’s age, it is believed this alloy will grow with the natural patterns of the skull,” the doctor continued to explain.

Next part was the placement of the optic and audial implants. Ratchet’s opinion of the optic placement was acceptable; however the placement of the audial implant was another matter.

“By the Allspark! No wonder she keeps getting headaches and needs a shielded place! That blasted chip is inappropriate for a biological implant! I’m surprised she didn’t die years ago.”

Finally, when the video showed the attachment of the extremities, Ratchet had enough. “Turn that blasted thing off!” he bellowed.

Silks complied. 

Optimus Prime looked around at his soldiers. Every one of them was silent and obviously disturbed by what they had just seen. Even the other two spidrobots had joined their friend under her pillow. And Bumblebee, brave ‘bot that he was, was visibly shaken; he was sitting on the floor where he had obviously collapsed and rocking back and forth, watching the video through his fingers.

“I think I would be sick if it was possible,” Elita One said.

“If I ate, I think it would have been on the floor by the first cut,” Mirage said.

“Would you mind turning me off, Ratchet?” Ironhide asked.

Optimus turned to a still rocking Bumblebee and easily gathered him into his arms. “Perhaps you can repair Bumblebee’s leg while we decide what to do with this new information.”

Eager for something to do to get the vision of what he had just seen out of his mind, Spiral ran to the edge of the table and jumped onto Ratchet’s arm, scuttling up to his shoulder.

“Um, yeah. Bring him over to the clinic area.”

“That could’ve been me,” Bumblebee spliced together.

“I know, old friend,” Optimus confirmed. There was nothing more he could say.

 

CREDIT: “That sounds . . . quite painful.” Clip is from the movie “If Looks Could Kill,” 1991


	6. Chapter 5

CHAPTER FIVE:

Brigadier General Will Lennox was in the office he occupied for the last several years as the N.E.S.T team commander. He was a One Star General now, and being moved to the Pentagon to serve as the military liaison to the Autobots. Most of his belongings were in boxes, only a few more personal things left to pack up, and those he would leave until he was walking out the door. Some of these things, he knew, would never again be displayed for public view. They would be considered classified, and therefore, forever locked away until, or unless, his work was declassified.

“Sir. You have a call from big blue,” the airman first class said through the intercom.

“Thanks Cary. I’ll take it in here.” General Lennox picked up the phone and hit the blinking line.

“Colonel, er, General Lennox speaking.” He still couldn’t get used to the rank change.

“General Lennox. We have happened upon a situation and need some advice,” Optimus said through the line.

“So, is that why you called instead of just radioed?”

“Correct. Can you be in western Pennsylvania anytime soon?”

“Sure, I’ll just ready a team and we can be there in ninety,” Lennox said as he began to shuffle paperwork to write up the order.

“No. No team. This is a personal favor I need to ask of you.”

“Personal favor? Sure, anything you need, but if I need to take my own personal vehicle, it will take me at least eight hours.”

“No need. There will be a ticket waiting for you at the airport, US Air counter. It was purchased under the name, Jay Talbot. It leaves in one hour and arrives in Pittsburgh fifty minutes later. The return flight is scheduled for five thirty pm tonight.”

“Just a quick trip then huh?” 

“Yes. It is a rather . . . delicate, situation. It is best discussed in person.”

“Sure then, I’ll be there in about two hours,” Lennox said as he scribbled the information on a post it.

Hanging up, he wondered aloud, “Who is J. Talbot?”

VVVVVBREAKVVVVV

Airman first class Jacob Cary watched through the glass as General Lennox talked on the phone with the Autobot leader. He didn’t have much, but he had a name, and he would have whatever note was written as soon as the General left. He didn’t have long to wait, after making another call to his wife, Lennox hung up and left the office.

“Airman Cary. I’ve got a meeting that will keep me out of the office all day. Please make sure to send any problems to Major Ellison,” he said on his way past.

“Yes sir,” Cary said as he put the file away and watched the general walk out the door toward the hangar.

Making sure that no one was coming, he hurried into the now empty office and scanned his desk. The yellow post it pad laying in front of the phone was easy spot. Picking it up, he quickly looked at it, the indentation left when he wrote was easy to read; “US Air to Pittsburgh, twelve forty-five. J. Talbot.” 

Dropping the pad back on the desk, he reported to Major Ellison.

VVVVVBREAKVVVVV

Major Andrew Ellison was settling nicely into his new office. This was the prime position for what he wanted; keeping an eye on the Autobots as they continued to work in the bays below him.

He had his back to the door when the sound of the Airman’s footfalls on the carpet leading to his office alerted him. He was about to get company. When he heard the Airman stop in front of his open door, he didn’t give the boy the chance to knock.

“What is it Airman Cary?” he asked without turning around.

“Just wanted to let you know the General has left for the day. He said he has a meeting.”

“With?”

“He received a phone call from big blue. I saw him say he would perform a personal favor for the Autobot. He then wrote down a note that said ‘US Air, twelve forty-five to Pittsburgh,’ It also had a name; J. Talbot.”

“Find me anything you can about this J. Talbot person. Then, find out if she has any ties to Pittsburgh.”

“Understood sir,” Airman Cary answered.

VVVVVBREAKVVVVV

Mudflap was looking up from the game of checkers he was playing with the British soldier. He didn’t like that new guy. Something about him was just off. That Major Ellison was too sneaky. He didn’t trust him at all.

“It’s your turn Mudflap,” the soldier, Fletcher, said.

“Sorry,” he said as he diverted his attention back to the game. He cleared the board of his opponent’s pieces.

“Where’d this new guy come from anyway?” Mudflap asked.

“His momma,” quipped his twin, Skidz.

“Actually, he is a marine that was given this command after he was injured in battle in Egypt. They said he was on his way out if he turned out to be deaf and lost his leg as a result of his injuries,” Fletcher informed

“Guess he kept ‘em then,” Skidz said.

“So it would appear,” agreed Fletcher.

“I don’t like him,” Mudflap said.

“How do you know if you don’t like him? You ain’t never met the guy more 'n five minutes a'fore!” Skidz started on one of his rants.

Mudflap and Fletcher remembered something else they needed to do before he got started.

VVVVVBREAKVVVVV

Fig was looking up at the preserved bodies of the robots. It was hard to believe these beings, one of whom had cost him his sight, were the reason he could actually see. It seemed almost fitting to him that the scorpion looking thing was the one in the worst shape. 

“Sergeant Figueroa,” the Airman addressed him. “Dr. Carlisle will see you now.”  
Fig turned and followed the kid into the doctor’s offices. A converted missile silo was the ideal place to keep things like these, he thought.

VVVVVBREAKVVVVV

The Captain stared at the maps tacked to the wall in front of him. Even though they had the most in modern computer technology, he still preferred the old-fashioned folding maps. Maybe he was old school, but he always seemed to find the patterns easier when he looked at paper. 

Various points on the map had red, orange and green dots in seemingly random positions. Many experts had looked at the map and could not determine any distinguishable pattern, but he saw it.

“Gunny Young,” he addressed one of the silent figures in the room.

“Sir?” the Marine answered immediately.

“Do you see how these red dots appear to be in almost random positions? Almost like the receiver is constantly moving?”

“Yes sir.”

“That's a decoy. Either she has someone helping her, or she was able to somehow slip a receiver onto a tractor trailer.

“No, she's up here in the northeast where these orange markers are. They indicate duplicate signal returns. 

“Given how infrequent they are, she must have found some way of blocking the signal.”

“The only reason she would want to hide her signal would be if she was trying to keep from being found. But, she has no formal combat training, so she most likely made a few mistakes.”

“Exactly, they seem to be centered around the Pittsburgh area. About sixty miles north by north east. A little town called 'Wampum.'

“Gunny, take units A, B and C to the area and try to get eyes on her. See if you can determine who has been helping her and bring them all back. We need to bring her home before those aliens find her and try to dissect her.”

“Aye, aye sir!” the Marine agreed before he smartly executed an about face, and left the room.

He really hoped they got to that girl before the aliens did. After all, who knew what they would do to her for her role in the cybernetic advancements of human kind?


	7. Chapter 6

CHAPTER SIX:

Jukes burst from the storm sewer out into a gully several miles away from the building. Even with thermal scans, it would be difficult to track them through the labyrinth of piping and the water from the latest snow melt. He took her to the path that had been worn into the hill from countless other traffic. It led to a local baseball park; Clyde was waiting for them in the parking lot.

Dismounting Jukes, Ellie quickly hopped into Clyde’s front seat before she removed her helmet. She couldn’t afford another headache right now, because there was too much going on. She sat the helmet on the seat next to her as Jukes closed her door and climbed into the back seat.

“Phase one complete. Let’s begin phase two,” Ellie told Clyde.

Clyde shifted into gear and began driving toward the lair. “Would you like to stop for an Italian?” he asked.

“Sure, I could keep it for later,” Ellie answered.

“Let’s get to the hot spot and see what Itsy and Maestro have sent us now. Then, we’ll get back to the lair and get ready for their arrival.”

“Okay, but I really think you need to eat something. You look pale,” Jukes worried.

“I’m fine. Soto probably has something at the lair anyway.”

“You need real food. I’ve taken the liberty of calling Christy’s and ordering you a fried ham dinner with green beans. And you will eat it,” informed Clyde.

“Ugh! Alright! I’ll eat a real meal today. Gosh! You two are impossible,” Ellie complained.

“First, can we get to a hot spot so we can get that download?” she asked.

“We are nearing the hot spot now,” Clyde informed her. He pulled into a parking lot and stopped.

“Receiving download,” Ellie informed as the computer screen flickered.

“Download complete,” she continued after a few minutes. “Let’s go.”

Clyde started driving again.

“It’s a larger file than usual,” Jukes noticed.

“I think it’s a video file. Or maybe several. Who knows? Have to wait ‘til we get home to open it,” Ellie confirmed.

“What’s our ETA ‘til we get home?” she asked Clyde.

“About forty-five minutes until we get to the restaurant.”

“Fine,” she said as she rolled her eyes. “I’m going to take a nap. Wake me when we get there.”

She adjusted the seat to lay back and closed her eyes. Within a matter of minutes, she was asleep.

“I’m worried about her Clyde,” Jukes quietly told his companion.

“I am too. She’s been way too pale, she hasn’t been eating properly and she doesn’t seem to be sleeping well.”

“She hasn’t been. It’s the nightmares, they’re back. I fear it may have been too much for too long.”

“Didn’t the electromagnetic shielding work?”

“Yes, but she would sometimes go to the convenience store without any sort of shielding.”

“What did she do that for?”

“She would get that Pepsi throwback and food. Then, she would come back and sit quietly on the cot for a while before she would get back to work on Ironhide’s body.”

“I hope this Ratchet ‘bot can help her. Have you notified Livewire?”

“Yes. Don’t worry; he gave me a good lecture about it too.”

“I know her too well to blame you.”

As they traveled down Pennsylvania sixty-five, the group fell into a comfortable silence, Clyde and Jukes watching over their charge with great affection.

It was an even greater concern to them both when she didn’t even wake up when they went through the drive through to get her sandwich.

VVVVVBREAKVVVVV

Ratchet was in his glory in this place, Bumblebee thought. It seemed to have everything he needed to patch up his fellow Autobots. With every new discovery, he seemed even more impressed with the girl’s ingenuity. 

After Bumblebee was repaired, he went to talk to his old friends. He wanted to know about this girl. She seemed so small and fragile. The thought that she was treated that way made him angrier than he had ever been. 

“Lita One,” he approached her holo preserver.

“Bumblebee! I’m so glad to see you again,” she greeted.

“Tell me about the girl. She helped me,” he spliced.

“Well, she is a really sweet femmeling. She is always trying to find ways of helping us. Right now, she is trying to find a substitute for Energon.”

“How old is she? How long has she been on her own? Who is the guy in the video with the wheelchair? How has she been able to survive so long without adult help?” the questions just kept pouring out of him.

“Whoa there fella!” she teased. “Ellie is twelve years old, almost thirteen. She’s been on her own since she was seven. The guy in the wheelchair is her uncle. She has been receiving help from a group of ‘bots that were created here.”

“Tell me about the ‘bots,” he said.

“Well, the biggest one she named Clyde. Right now, his alt form is a Chevy Silverado crew cab with a tow package and plow attachment. Jukes is her personal guardian. His alt form is a minibike and he seems to be the one that’s been with her the longest. Soto seems to be her local food scrounger. His current alt form is a food vending machine. Mike is the one who still doesn’t speak Earth languages. His alt form is a microwave oven. He absolutely adores her and would fight anyone at anytime to protect her. Then there’s Livewire. He is the resident medic. His current alt form is a defibrillating machine. He’s the one who’s been tending to her medical needs. Finally, there’s the spidrobots. There are six of them; Spinner, Spiral and Silks whom you’ve already met, plus Weaver, she’s their leader, Webber, he’s the total soldier and Webster, he’s the funny one. Oh, and I almost forgot, Bonecrusher was like us. He was one of the first Cybertronians she saved. She has him in a straight robotic body without any transforming capabilities, but he doesn’t leave the lair much anyway, so no biggie.”

“Bonecrusher?!? But, he’s a Decepticon! What did she save him for?”

“I don’t think she really knew that when she saved him. From my understanding, he was dying when she happened on him during her escape. Besides, she seems to have won his loyalty.”

“What else can you tell me about her?”

“Well, I don’t know much more, honestly. She’s very closed off. She doesn’t like to talk about much other than what she is working on.

“Why don’t you watch the rest of those videos? Honestly, that was the first time I had seen any of that. It does explain a lot about her though. I’m sure there are more on them than that surgery.”

Bumblebee nodded once then reached for the laptop. He unplugged it from the holo projector and walked over to the stairs that the girl had slept under. He sat down on the floor and started the videos, making sure to skip the first. As the light of the film flickered over his face, he began to feel . . . something for the girl he didn’t quite know how to name. She was so small and fragile, yet unbelievably strong. 

VVVVVBREAKVVVVV

Wheelie had come to a dead end. He was able to follow the thermal trail and tread pattern of the ‘bot all the way to the storm drain system. Through, he might have added, some very questionable debris. Here, it was impossible to go any further. Only one thing to do; get above ground and get his bearings. Then, see if he can figure out where she would have most likely gone, and report back to the Prime.

‘Bot forming, he carefully climbed over some rubble that gave way when he leaned on it. 

“Yuck!” he exclaimed as he realized he was elbow deep in the chest cavity of a dead animal. “What is this? ‘Night of the Living Dead’?” 

Making his way around the animal, he was able to get onto a sidewalk that ran along the spillway. Looking around for a ladder to the surface, he noticed a splash mark that seemed to be recent up on a wall too high for the natural splashing to get. 

“Wait a second!” he exclaimed as he investigated. There, on the sidewalk in front of him was a tread mark that matched the one he was following. “Yes! Found you and your little friend too.”

Wheelie alt formed and raced off after the splash marks.

VVVVVBREAKVVVVV

Optimus Prime was personally waiting at the airport when General Lennox arrived. He had it timed perfectly to just stop long enough to let the General get in and continue on. 

“No trailer today?” Lennox noticed.

“It would have been difficult to maneuver around the gates,” Optimus answered.

“I appreciate you coming on such short notice. Unfortunately, there is something I must show you . . . and it isn’t going to be pleasant to see.”

“Getting straight to business, huh?”

“Yes. As I said, we have been made aware of something, and you really need to see it.”

“Okay. So, why don’t you tell me on the way to wherever it is we’re going, and who is ‘J. Talbot?’”

“You are aware of the reports about the girl helping to patch up the wounded these past weeks?”

“Yeah. What about her?”

“We have finally located her base of operation. Unfortunately, she fled. After discovering the message she left for us, it is most understandable.”

“She left you a message? Where is it?”

“Here,” Optimus said as he played the film he had recorded on the GPS screen.

Lennox was speechless as he watched the film. “I think I’m going to be sick,” he said when it was over.

“Do you need me to pull over?”

“Air. Please. Roll down the window.”

Optimus pulled over into a parking lot and stopped as he rolled down the window.

Lennox got out and proceeded to lose the contents of his stomach. After he was done heaving, he looked around to get his bearings. They were in the parking lot of a strip mall. Seeing the sign of a dollar store, he staggered his way there and bought a liter and a half bottle of water.

Returning to Optimus, he had almost half of it drunk. “Give me a minute to make sure this stays down,” he said.

“Of course. 

“I did not think you would have any knowledge of such a thing. It was our understanding that experimentation, especially of this nature was expressly forbidden on children in this society.”

“It is, trust me. If his higher ups had known what he was doing, they would have stopped it; especially with a three year old!” The rising pitch of Lennox’s voice told Optimus how disturbed the human was.

“Would you like to continue?” Optimus asked.

Lennox took another gulp of his water then shut the door. “Yeah. I think I’ll be okay. Let’s just leave the window down alright?”

“Certainly.

“This girl, Urielle, ran away from the program when she was seven. It is my understanding that the male in the wheelchair, Dr. Carlisle, is her uncle. Our knowledge of familial connections, however, is limited, so we cannot calculate the degree of betrayal the girl must be feeling,” Optimus said as he rejoined traffic.

“Well, the basic unit of family goes like this; the parents are the progenitors, the male progenitor is the father, the female is the mother. Any siblings they would have would be their child’s aunt or uncle. Aunts are the parents’ sisters and uncles are their brothers. Then, any children the aunts and, or uncles would have would be cousins,” Lennox tried to explain.

“So, this Dr. Carlisle is the brother of one of this girl’s parents?” Optimus confirmed.

“Yeah. So, this Carlisle bastard must have gotten her parents to agree to this so called ‘treatment’ when she was so devastatingly injured.”

“According to our information, she is an orphan.”

“That would explain why no one came forward to stand up for the girl. He must’ve been given custody when her parent’s died. Which means, he would have unlimited access to the girl, and no one to stand up to him on her behalf.

“What a dirt bag!” he proclaimed disgustedly.

“Custody? Is it common for custody to be transferred?”

“In the case of death of a parent of a minor child: yes.

“In our society, a child is considered a minor until the age of eighteen. That means they are not considered to have much legal culpability for their actions until then. It also means they are not considered to be able to decide basic need decisions for themselves either. So, in the case of this girl, her uncle probably was able to prove himself a fit guardian for her given her assumed need of a wheelchair after her accident.”

“Can anything be done to protect the girl?”

“Well, if we can find her uncle and have him arrested for torturing the kid, he would be removed as her guardian and a new one would have to be named. If she doesn’t have any other family members, she would probably end up in the foster care system.”

“Most of the information available on the foster care system is not favorable. Does the fact the child was left with a valuable estate alter these odds?” asked Optimus. He was beginning to form a plan to protect this child, but he needed more information.

“Legally, I would say it shouldn’t. But honestly, it probably would. I’m sorry to say this, but a lot of people are greedy. If she has a hefty inheritance, she may very well end up awarded to someone who would blow through her money like it was water. It wouldn’t surprise me if so called relatives would come out of the woodwork to petition to adopt her just so they could get at it.”

“What does a 'petition to adopt' do?”

“The adoption process allows an adult to gain legal custody of a child for the rest of the child’s minor years. It’s pretty much a legal process that says, as far as the law is concerned, you are legally responsible for the welfare of this child.”

“Given this girl’s status and knowledge of Cybertronian technology, who would make such a determination?”

“Probably a federal or military court. That would also, more than likely, minimize the number of potential guardians too.”

At this point, Optimus and Lennox had made it to the industrial complex and drove into the building.

“Well! This is certainly nice,” commented Lennox as he got out.

“It is rather Spartan, isn’t it?” Optimus said after he transformed.

“We believe the girl used this place as a temporary base of operation. As I stated, she left a message behind for us.” With that, Optimus pointed at the table where the holographic images of Arcee, her sisters and Jazz flickered.

“What the . . . Arcee? Is that you?” Lennox asked with a disbelieving smile.

“Colonel Lennox! How good to see you again,” Arcee greeted.

“It’s General now. Wow! It’s really you. What happened? How’d you get here?”

“It’s a long story that even I don’t fully know. All I know is that a round was coming at me, then everything went dark. Next thing I remember, I’m coming to awareness in this situation.

“As to how we got here, Ellie brought us.”

“Why?”

“She is ill. Optimus Prime showed you the video?”

Lennox took another gulp of his water then grimaced. “Yeah. How is she ill?”

“We believe that the experiments performed on her are beginning to have negative effects on her health. We were able to get her to agree to notify the Autobots when she did not have the means to repair Ironhide’s spark.”

“Ironhide? He’s here too? How’d she get all of you here?”

“We do not know. According to Jazz, she was able to develop a technology that saved their lives. We are to meet with her and share her technology at a later time,” Optimus answered.

“When? If this girl was a part of a government experiment, they’re going to want to get her back. Some of these guys might even be willing to kill to get her,” Lennox advised.

“She was not a ‘part’ of a government experiment, General Lennox. She ‘was’ a government experiment,” Optimus clarified. 

“We are also aware that she is being hunted by factions of your government. For that reason, we cannot turn her over in good conscience.”

“You know I would never let her be used like that,” Lennox defended.

“Yes, we know you, personally, would not allow her to come to harm. However, we cannot be certain that someone higher than you in your chain of command would be equally as protective. This is what I ask of you; take the proof of the atrocities committed against this girl to your supervisors. Arrange that the man responsible for her situation is properly punished and no longer able to get to her. Once we are certain that she is safe from him, we will make her available to your government.”

“I can understand why you would want to protect her. But, you have to realize my supervisors are not going to be just ignoring the fact you aren’t cooperating with them. And by cooperating, I mean handing her over without a second thought.”

“The last time we fully cooperated with your government, they ordered us off your planet and nearly allowed themselves to be subjugated to Decepticon rule.

“If they wish to press the issue, point out to them that she was implanted with Cybertronian technology without our knowledge or consent. As the duly appointed Prime of our society, I am the custodian of all Cybertronians, including their technology. That makes me this child’s guardian according to the customs, laws and regulations of Cybertron. And if that is not enough to make them relent, remind them this child is ill as a result of these procedures, and only a Cybertronian medical professional would have the necessary knowledge and ability to reverse these effects.”

“You could suggest that it might be wise to leave her with us, to make sure this illness hasn’t managed to become contagious among humans, of course,” added Ratchet. Like the rest of the assembled Autobots, he approached when Optimus was talking.

“Of course.

“You know what, as the new military liaison to the Autobots, it is my official decision that this girl will remain under Autobot protection for the time being. Due to suspected corruption of someone in the government that allowed the abuse of this girl to continue for four years, no member of the government or military is to know her whereabouts until the guilty parties are caught and prosecuted,” announced General Lennox.

“You can do that?” asked Sideswipe.

“I just did. Now who is J. Talbot?”

“Thank you, General Lennox. 

“Jay Talbot is a paper identification created by this girl for Jazz here,” Optimus informed him.

“Who is Jazz?”

“That’d be me,” Jazz waved.

“I remember you. You were the one Megatron ripped apart weren’t you?”

“Yeah. That really left me beside myself,” he confirmed.

“I bet. How did this girl create a paper trail and false I.D. for you?”

“Beats me. I just know she left the lair for a while, and then came back with a bunch of papers she said were my new I.D.”

“I better check on your I.D. through the government to make sure it doesn’t get flagged. If it was created about five or six years ago, it might tip someone off that it’s bogus.

“So, why did she think you needed an I.D.? And what’s the lair?”

“That’s easy, she knew she would need access to money in order to live undetected. So, she set me up online and started shifting money from her inheritance into my name so she would not leave a trail.

“And the lair is where we’ve been hiding out these last five plus years. No idea where it is though.”

“Smart,” Lennox agreed. “Now, where’s this proof you wanted me to have?”

Bumblebee looked at Optimus then handed over the laptop.

“The video files are in the thumb drive. They are encrypted, so we are also giving you the laptop with the de-encryption program already loaded,” Optimus informed him.

“Thanks. I’ll make sure the Sec Def himself sees this personally. Just to make sure all of the bases are covered, I’ll also get a meeting set up with him, the President’s Security Advisor and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs’ of Staff,” Lennox stated.

“Again, I thank you General Lennox. You have proven to be a true friend.”

“Just one thing I need to ask of you now.”

“What would that be?”

“I get that you can’t trust too many people with this Ellie girl. So, I’m asking you to bring a human into the loop about her. I think Epps would be ideal. We both know we can trust him, he has military training, so he can protect her and he is not in either the military or the government anymore.”

“I will take that under advisement,” Optimus conceded.

“Now, how are you guys still alive?” Lennox asked Jazz.

“No idea. I think it would be uncomfortable for us to take a little ride with you to your tech people to find out too. I kinda like the idea of being aware, even if I can’t move right now,” Jazz answered.

“So, you think I should maybe forget that I know you’re still alive?”

“That would be preferable,” confirmed Optimus.


	8. Chapter 7

{C“Cybertronian spoken language with English words/names.”C}  
[S“Soundwave's personal coded speech.”S]

CHAPTER SEVEN:

Livewire was incensed at Jukes. He knew how vulnerable Ellie was, and still, he let her leave the protection of the factory. How could he do that? If she didn’t have another brain bleed because of that, it would be a veritable miracle. Boy! He was so not going to go easy on the bicycle on steroids when he got back. 

Livewire paced back and forth the width of the receiving chamber with Mike and the Spidrobots trailing behind. The perimeter alarm had gone off about five minutes before, which left him another four to ten minutes to fume.

“At least they got her something to eat on the way back,” he muttered.

Mike chattered back his answer, {C“If it’s cold, I’ll make sure to heat it up to the perfect temperature.”C}

“You’re sure they said they got her ham and vegetables and mashed potatoes with gravy?” he asked the little ‘bot.

{C“Sure as sure can be,C}” Mike chattered. {C“From Christy’s!”C}

“At least they use real food.

“Soto! Have you gotten word back from the Esses yet?”

Soto leaned against the wall of the adjoining chamber so he could keep an optic on the monitor. “About half hour gone. Ratchet ‘bot watch movie. Said six right. Other ‘bots watch too. All sad.”

“I bet they were all upset about what they saw. How can anyone do that to a baby?”

“New message from the Esses!” Bonecrusher called from his spot next to the cave opening.

“What did they say?” asked Livewire.

“Said, ‘Collaborated with human general. Autobots now have custody of Ellie. Opening charges against Uncle Al,’” he read.

“I don’t know if that’s a good thing or not,” Livewire muttered.

“There’s more. ‘Taking control of Autotronix buildings. Prime has secret forces. Outfitting as bases.’ It seems to be in order. That’s the end of it,” Bonecrusher finished.

Before he could answer, Clyde came driving into the cavern. As Livewire came rushing up to the passenger side door to help Ellie out, Jukes jumped out of the rear door and blocked his way.

“Out of my way you overgrown moped!”

“You know, I’m really getting sick and tired of you blaming her decisions on me. In case you’ve forgotten, she can be a real sneak when she wants to be, and I can’t always stop her. 

“Now, would you get out of my way so I can put her in bed?” Jukes asked as he turned around to gently pick the still sleeping girl up. The leather jacket squeaking as he moved.

“How long has she been sleeping?” Livewire asked, all business now.

“About an hour. Before you ask, she got an average of four hours sleep a night since we set up. No, they were not a straight four, she woke up about every two with nightmares then wouldn’t go back to sleep. Yes, I did let her sleep and went into the restaurant in my human clothes, and we went through drive-thru to get her sandwich.”

“Well, at least she’s sleeping now, although she is way too pale. Did she eat the food we sent with her?” he asked as he reached in and grabbed the bags of food then promptly handed them off to Mike.

“Just the fruit. She didn’t eat the vegetables or the fish. She ate all the chicken and turkey two weeks ago. Then, she picked at the beef for a week before she just pitched it and started going to the convenience store.”

“Damn! Why didn’t one of you text us when she ran out of food?”

“Because she didn’t run out of food, she threw what she didn’t like out and didn’t tell us.”

“Argh!!! I swear this girl is going to short out my spark before she’s sixteen.” 

“Maybe we can start a support group, ‘Spark Club for Elliebots.’”

By this time, they had made their way to the small alcove Ellie had converted into her private bedroom. Gently, Jukes laid the sleeping girl on her bed then reverently touched her face with his gloved hand before Livewire shooed him out.

Quickly, and with great efficiency, he set about examining her. Although there was a clinic in the caves, they quickly discovered that she had panic attacks when she was the patient in it. So, he decided to examine her in the comfort of her own room whenever he could. The red light of his medi-scan played over her body. The results played back in his head as if he were watching a movie. She was anemic, which was no surprise, had a low body temperature and several new small lesions on her brain around the chips. In fact, if he didn’t know what he was looking for, he might have missed them given how minute they were. Otherwise, she was fine. The fracture in her shoulder had healed completely and she wasn’t bleeding. So, it looked like rest was the prescription for the day.

Accepting that there was nothing more he could do for her, he set about getting her ready for bed; he removed her shoes to reveal the stumps similar to his own feet, took off the heavy jacket she wore and the gloves. Taking this as a sign he was done, Mike scurried into the room and helped cover her with the comforter. Noticing that she was still cold, he hurried to the footlocker setting on the other side of the alcove and got out two more thick blankets and covered her with them as well. They were satisfied when she sighed in her sleep and rolled over onto her side, snuggling deeper into the blankets.

The sound of Megatron bellowing from the arena sent both of them running. 

VVVVVBREAKVVVVV

“Do not make the mistake of assuming I am the body I’ve been forced to wear!” Megatron shouted at his opponent as he pummeled him into reset.

The holographic image of Starscream blinked out of the arena and re-materialized over his holopreserver. Briefly disoriented, he looked around to get his bearings. Sometimes, he was grateful to be a hologram. When Megatron was in this mood, well, this was one of those times.

“Who else would face me? Any ‘bot brave enough now? This is a holographic image! No one can die by my hands! Who?” Megatron taunted the assembled holographic images. He thought Soundwave might have been brave enough to face him, but the arrival of Clyde and Jukes stopped his rant.

“Megatron! What are you yapping about?” asked Jukes as he came to the arena. His metallic form was literally a head above the tallest ‘bot’s hologram positioned in the receiving docks.

“Pathetic worms! We are all mere holograms, and still none of these despicable piles of scrap will face me in battle. Will either of you?” he teased.

“Later. 

“Ellie is sick. Quiet so you don’t wake her,” ordered Jukes.

“So the child is sick? Where is she now?” Megatron asked, almost too innocently.

“In bed, unless you managed to wake her with all your caterwauling,” answered Livewire as he came up to the arena.

Megatron blinked out of the arena and returned to his current body. It took him a moment to regain his equilibrium as he reanimated the plush features of the teddy bear he was forced to inhabit. He hated this punishment. Any ‘bot who dared to ask him would be told exactly how much.

Secretly though, the form was beginning to grow on him. In this form, the girl would cuddle with him while she slept. He often soothed her when she began to have her nightmares. She would tell him what the nightmares were about and seek comfort from him, often squeezing him tightly to her as she drifted back to sleep.

But to his Decepticons, he was gathering information. He was getting the girl, their captor, to trust him so that she would be easier to manipulate. Soon, perhaps in a month, or maybe a year, he would convince her to restore them to their bodies and they could continue to fight the Autobots.

At least, that is what he was telling them when they met in the arena. The truth was, he found himself caring about the child. He did not remember when it started, but he could no longer deny he felt . . . emotion for the girl. An emotion he could only call affection. Perhaps it was when she told him the truth about herself, and what her uncle did to him without his knowledge. For the first time in his existence, he felt violated. At first, he was numb, as if he had suffered an electrical jolt to his central processors and simply could not function. Then, he felt an icy rage engulf him. A quiet, deadly, calculating ire that no amount of time or revenge would quench. Then, a curious thing happened, he looked at the girl and saw guilt on her face. This confused him, what did she have to feel guilty about? It was not her sin, but the sin of her uncle. That was when he realized, she accepted the blame for her uncle’s actions, even though she was unaware of what he was doing. She accepted the guilt because she did not understand she was even more of a victim than he was.

Megatron shook himself out of his reverie. He would never reveal that his momentary time of reflection concerned anything but his secret plans to destroy the Autobots. He did not think it would be good for his ‘bots to know their leader was thinking about the welfare of a human child instead of theirs.

“Take me to the girl!” he ordered Livewire. “Update me on her condition on the way.”

Livewire disconnected Megatron from his interface dock and took him to the child’s room, updating her status as they went.

VVVVVBREAKVVVVV

Soundwave watched in silence as Livewire took Megatron to Ellie’s room. He knew the Decepticon leader better than any ‘bot here, and he knew Megatron was growing to care for the girl. He also believed that his leader might have finally admitted it to himself. This latest episode was Megatron’s way of dealing with his concern. The ‘bot was worried about the health of the girl. Truth was, all of them were. Some were worried for more personal reasons, namely the fact she was the primary reason none of them were dead or under the microscopes of the humans, others were also coming to like the girl.

His personal opinion was of great respect for her. She had saved the lives of every ‘bot here, and continued to protect them from both the Autobots and the humans. 

He didn’t bother to share the agreement he came to with her; she would never lie to him if he would never lie to her, and they both could choose to not answer any questions they wanted. It was a fair agreement. He vowed to himself he would never betray it. He wondered at that. Why would it matter if he did? He was a spymaster, lying was what he did.

Knowing his moods, Ravage and Laserbeak signaled him with their concerns. They were not familiar with this one.

[S“I am forming a theory about Megatron’s relationship with the girl,”S] he signaled back in their personal code.

[S“He has been showing an illogical amount of interest in the human child,S]” Laserbeak agreed.

[S“I have also picked up occasional Cybertronian signatures from the girl’s cybernetic implants and limbs that are similar to Megatron’s,”S] Ravage informed.

Could it be? Soundwave wondered. When he ran the new information against what he already knew, or could extrapolate, he came to a stunning conclusion; Megatron was the source of her cybernetics. In human terms, Megatron was the girl’s father, in a way.

Thinking back to when they first came to awareness in this cave, he remembered that the girl took Megatron aside and spent over two hours alone with him. When he was returned to the rest of them, his mood was decidedly darker than it had been. Soundwave remembered being curious about what they had discussed for so long, but then when she took him aside, and they spent almost the same amount of time together, basically learning the ground rules, he had dismissed it. Could she have been telling Megatron about the source of her cybernetics? Now, things were starting to click into place; the favoritism she had for Megatron, the patience Megatron demonstrated toward the girl, they had to be forging a relationship of some kind.

This was an unexpected development. He filed it away for future reference. 

The spidrobot, Webster, was perched on the edge of the docking area behind him. He signaled to the insect like ‘bot and asked him to bring Bonecrusher there. After looking at the holographic image for a moment, he slowly backed away, keeping his optics on Soundwave, and proceeded to fall over the edge of the arena.

Soundwave smiled in his mind at the antics of the little ‘bot. Sometimes, he wished he could show emotion. Unfortunately, the first thing he learned when he was made a spymaster was to delete the facial emotional expressions from your fine motor protocols.


	9. Chapter 8

/P“Speaking through a phone.”P/

 

CHAPTER EIGHT:

 

General Lennox was sitting in the first class seat the Autobots had bought for him. He itched to open the laptop and see the rest of those videos, but knew better. This was not a secure environment, and he didn’t want to get busted if there was something sensitive on it that someone might accidentally see. Instead, he took out his cell phone and called the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff’s personal phone number. When he answered, he made arrangements to meet with him at his house. The chairman confirmed that he would get the rest of the people there as well.

 

Hanging up the phone, he remembered that today was his wedding anniversary. Man! His wife was not going to be happy that he had to work. He better call her now to warn her they were going to have company. This was not going to be pleasant.

 

VVVVVBREAKVVVVV

 

Sarah Lennox was happily preparing the marinade for the baby back ribs that were currently defrosting in the refrigerator. She was singing along to an old Barry White song when the phone call came.

 

“I really hope that isn't Aunt Sylvia canceling on us,” she said to her children as she dried her hands and reached for the cell phone.

 

“Oh! It's daddy!” she smiled as she answered.

 

“Dada! Dadadadada,” little RT chirped happily from his high chair, waving his chicken nuggets toward the phone.

 

“Can I talk to him?” Annie asked excitedly as she hopped off her chair.

 

“Shh,

 

“Hey handsome!” the blonde woman addressed with a smile while waving her daughter off.

 

“No, RT. Daddy doesn't want your chicken nuggets,” she told her son distractedly while she tried to focus on the phone call.

 

“Annie, finish your mac 'n' cheese.”

 

/P“Trying to feed me? Tell them I said 'thanks,'”P/ Will chuckled as he greeted his wife.

 

“So, what's wrong?” the distracted chuckling had her immediately on alert.

 

/P“You always could read me like a book, couldn't you?”P/ he said with a sigh.

 

/P“I'm sorry sweetheart, but I have to work tonight. Several of my superiors are coming to the house for a briefing on a new, but very important development.”P/

 

“But, it's our anniversary.”

 

/P“I know, and I really am sorry. You know that this is something that I just can't put off or I would.”P/

 

“Yeah, alright. It's fine.”

 

/P“Really? I honestly love you. You know that don't you? I swear we're taking a second honeymoon when this is done, anywhere you want to go.

 

/P“Oops! Sorry baby, but I have to go. The pilot has just turned on the 'fasten seat belts' sign and the attendants' are asking us to put away cell phones.

 

/P“Love you, be home soon!”P/

 

The beeping of the disconnected line in her ear signaled that the call had been ended. With a huff of suppressed anger, she dropped the phone onto the counter and took a deep breath to try and control her temper. The kids didn't need her to be angry with them.

 

A quick glance back to the phone showed a message had been left.

 

“Great, this would only be perfect if Sylvia canceled on us too.”

 

Opening the message, she had to laugh at the irony.

 

“Sorry kids! Looks like your overnight to Aunt Sylvia's is canceled.”

 

“Awww! Why?” Annie demanded as she poured a half bottle of ketchup over her macaroni and cheese and chicken nuggets.

 

“She has the flu.”

 

“Foo!” RT said through a mouthful of green beans. He then threw a wad of macaroni and cheese mush toward the table in glee.

 

“Ronald Timothy! Stop throwing your food. Annie, you don't need _that_ much ketchup,” Sarah sighed as real life intruded into her own troubles.

 

Time to get back to being a mother.

 

VVVVVBREAKVVVVV

 

Fig was looking around the mess hall of his new base. Of course, he wasn’t actually still in the military as a real enlisted soldier. But, at least he was still given the rank, pay and privileges of the military.

 

The guy behind him touched his shoulder to get his attention.

 

“I strongly suggest you get the chicken. Baked lemon pepper chicken is really good here, unless, of course you’re a vegetarian,” the freckled faced red-head advised.

 

“Ignore Flaherty. He’d be sprouting feathers given all the chicken he eats.

 

“Seriously, they give a good spread here. Better than any mess in the military!” the tall African-American female standing behind him said. The red light of her optic sensor glowing steadily as she assessed the new member.

 

“Gracias. I’m sure there is little offering for alligator here though,” Fig answered.

 

“Ah! Parlez vous espanol?” Flaherty asked.

 

“That’s French, amigo. I’m afraid my French is limited to Cajun expressions.”

 

“To answer your question, as a matter of fact, we do have some exotic meats on occasion.”

 

“Where?” Fig asked.

 

The woman nodded to a small island on the opposite side of the room. “When you get your grub, you’re more than welcome to come sit with us,” she invited.

 

“Gracias. By the way, my name is Jorge Figueroa, but everyone calls me ‘Fig,’” he introduced himself.

 

“Beverly Hill. Yes, I know, my parents were quirky. That’s why I’m called ‘Two – ten,” she informed him. “This is Brian Flaherty. He’s not the brightest bulb, but we like him anyway,” she introduced the red-head.

 

“Huh? What?” Flaherty asked.

 

“Your chicken is getting cold,” Beverly diverted.

 

“Man! There’s nothing worse than cold lemon pepper chicken, except maybe cold chicken noodle soup,” he said as he hurried to a table.

 

Fig returned to the end of the line to wait for Beverly after he was able to get a generous helping of rattlesnake from the exotic island. If it was as good as it smelled, then he would be quite pleased.

 

Beverly led him to a table with a group of troops wearing the same patch as them, a skull with glowing red eyes.

 

“Hey everyone! Make a hole! Noob here. Let’s all make him welcome shall we?” Beverly addressed the assembled group.

 

A blonde man with a buzz cut and a US Marine insignia on his collar moved over to give them more room. Fig sat between him and Beverly, who took the end.

 

“Howdy. Jimmy James Jeffers here,” the Marine introduced himself as he offered his hand.

 

“Jorge Figueroa, but I go by Fig,” he answered as he shook the man’s hand.

 

“They call me J.J.”

 

“Makes sense,” Fig replied.

 

“Since everyone else is stuffing their faces, or otherwise diverted,” Beverly said. “Allow me to introduce the others.

 

“You already know Flaherty, but going down the row, you have Cassie Ingrahm, Eric Nemes, Paul Strothers, Angela LaValle and Tommy Tu,” Beverly introduced as each waved or otherwise acknowledged the introduction.

 

“On this side, J.J. introduced himself already, on the other side of him, you have John Nichols, Mike Burkes and Dale Rand. We are the ‘Deadeyes,’” she finished with great gusto.

 

The Deadeyes whooped when they heard their platoon nickname.

 

Throughout the introduction, Fig realized that everyone at his table had optic implants. So, he asked about it.

 

“That’s right. The majority of the squads are separated according to their cyborg component. Vulcan squad have audial implants, Bear squad have arms, the Things have hands, ‘Roo squad have legs, Rabbits are feet, Boas are spinal columns and then you have the numbered divisions. They’re the ones who have multiple implants. In fact, if you happen on the first platoon, well, they’re the premier group. Rumor has it that they are the personal guard of Carlisle himself. Some of the chatter going around would indicate they are even involved in a few ‘personal’ missions for him,” Beverly shared.

 

“So, what is our function here if the numbered are the elite guard of the Doc?” Fig asked.

 

“Basically, we’re the external guards. They put us on the wall because we can usually see what’s coming before it gets here,” J.J. supplied.

 

Fig continued to ask questions of his new platoon. He tried not to let on how nervous he was about Two-ten’s comments. If the Doc needed a unit for personal missions, he would bet the guy was keeping an eye on his recruits too. And talk like that usually resulted in untimely accidents.

 

VVVVVBREAKVVVVV

 

Three tables over, the Deadeyes never noticed the slight, nerdy troop from the second division discreetly palm a smart phone. He locked the phone into the port in his palm and sent the recording of the conversation he was eavesdropping on. The sound of the cameras adjusting a few seconds later told him it was received and they were beginning their investigation.

 

He disengaged the phone from his hand and put it back into his pocket before he returned to his lemon pepper chicken. Flaherty was right, it was a good dish.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, this is the latest chapter of "Children of Megatron." 
> 
> As you may, or may not, have noticed, I'm going to try and get the updated, and (hopefully) expanded chapters out every Sunday. Just so you know, this story is completed and over on FF net, but there were a few holes that I am trying to fill on AO3. If anyone has any other questions or suggestions about missing or incomplete relationships or plot shortfalls, I would appreciate a brief note/comment about what you would like me to expound upon.
> 
> Until next week! This is LGTracy signing off.


	10. Chapter 9

CHAPTER NINE:

 

Megatron didn’t pay much attention to the gate Livewire placed in front of the entrance. The medi-tech placed him on the table at the head of the girl’s cot and left them alone. They had long ago come to realize he wouldn’t harm her.

 

He sat on the ample padding of his tail and watched the girl sleep. He knew it would only be a matter of time before she would begin to thrash in her sleep and the nightmares would begin. So he spent his time thinking about what he would tell the girl this rest cycle. Should he continue telling her about his various gladiatorial victories? Perhaps, he should tell her about the battles he won. Maybe, he would tell her about his friendship with the young Orion Pax, and how the ‘bot betrayed him.

 

The child moaned in her sleep and began to twitch. So, the nightmares were starting, Megatron thought.

 

He jumped from the table to the pillow the girl’s head was resting on. “Hush child,” Megatron whispered as he gently brushed the hair from her face.

 

She stopped twitching, but frightening emotions flitted across her face. She gasped and began to mumble. To Megatron, he thought he heard the word “Papatron,” and then something similar to “Uncle Al.” Then, he distinctly heard her say, “No!” as she bolted upright.

 

“Little one,” Megatron addressed her. No one else knew that was his pet name for her.

 

Ellie blinked, and then tracked his location from his voice. “Papatron?” she asked tentatively. She made certain no one ever heard her address him so familiarly.

 

“I am here. Lie back down. You are safe now.”

 

She gathered him up into her good arm and lay back down.

 

He could feel the tension in her body as she fought to keep from crying, the terror of the nightmare still fresh in her mind.

 

“Tell me about your nightmare. I heard you say my name and something about your uncle. What happened?” Megatron encouraged.

 

For a long moment, the girl said nothing. Finally, she took a deep breath and let it out on a frustrated sigh. “I met this Ratchet ‘bot. Then he saw you and said ‘What are you still doing alive?’ And then he grabbed you and said, ‘I’m going to need spare parts to fix this mess,’ as he started ripping you apart. Then, he turned into a giant Uncle Al and grabbed me. That’s when I woke up.”

 

Megatron was taken aback. He knew she would often have nightmares about her Uncle Al regaining control of her, but this was the first time she ever told him, even indirectly, that she was also frightened of him being injured.

 

Curiously, he felt a shifting in the area of his spark. The best way he could describe it was as if it had opened to shine even more brightly than the brightest sun.

 

“Well, I’m still alive, and you’re still here. Try to rest now,” he consoled.

 

“I’m afraid the giant Uncle Al will come back if I close my eyes,” she confessed.

 

“Would you like to hear another story?” Megatron asked. He still wasn’t sure what he would tell her.

 

“Do you know any happy stories?” she asked hopefully.

 

He scanned his memory banks, and finally found one she would like.

 

“Long ago, on Cybertron, well before the war, even before I was a gladiator,” he began. “I worked in the mines as a demolitions ‘bot in sector sixteen. So, that was what they called me, D-sixteen.”

 

“Why didn’t they call you by your name?” Ellie interrupted.

 

“I didn’t have a name then. I had to earn my own name when I became a gladiator,” he informed her. “Now hush.

 

“One day, after a grueling cycle in the mine, I reported to the maintenance clinic for a standard cleaning and upgrade. As I stood in line, waiting for my turn, the most beautiful femme ‘bot I had ever seen flitted from one bay to another like a busy little flutter bot.

 

“She was a medic, and very young. Only a few planet orbits from a hatchling in fact.”

 

“Hatchling?” she interrupted again, sleep growing heavy in her voice.

 

“Newborn. Now hush and close your eyes or I won’t continue my story,” he threatened.

 

Megatron continued. “She was a mint green color with soft cream colored details.”

 

“Um, pretty,” Ellie commented

 

Megatron ignored the interruption. “Before I could stop myself, I reached out and caught her arm. It stopped her instantly in her tracks. Then she looked at me with her beautiful green optics with such innocence in her expression. ‘Can I help you?’ she asked me.

 

“Her voice was like music to my audials. For the first time in my existence, I found myself at a loss for words. Finally, like a fool, I was able to say something along the lines of upgrades.”

 

The child giggled.

 

“So innocent she was. I don’t think she realized how smitten I was with her.

 

“‘I’m afraid upgrades are postponed for the cycle. There was a cave-in in sectors one twelve through one eighteen. Right now, we have sparks to save. You’ll have to come back either before or after your next shift,’ she said to me.

 

“She gently removed my hand from her arm and continued her harried flitting from one bay to another. I continued to stand there for a brief time later, just staring after her when some of the rescue ‘bots brought in two more severely damaged ‘bots. It was like I was in some sort of fog when they said the collapse was expanding, and they didn’t think they would be able to stop it before the whole mine was gone.”

 

“Thought this was happy?”

 

“That’s when I realized I might be able to help. So, I ran back to the mine and found the emergency command post the rescue units had set up. I was able to see immediately what the problem was; they were trying to set off controlled explosions to stabilize the current cave-in and, in the process, they were destabilizing the surrounding sectors.”

 

“Idjits.”

 

“Finally, after I forcibly made the rescue commander listen to me, I was able to intervene, gather several other demolitions ‘bots together, and we stopped the collapse. After we were able to verify the area was stable again, we stayed out and helped the rescue units find as many survivors as possible. When it was all said and done, there were six dead and one hundred ninety-four injured.”

 

The child snuggled Megatron closer to her as she whispered, “My hero.”

 

“After we had tended to the dead, I returned to the clinic and waited outside for the rest of the injured to be seen to. She would have to leave soon after that. At least, that was my reasoning. Soon, it was nearing time for my next shift, and still, the medic did not emerge.

 

“Not wanting to acknowledge my part in the previous cycle’s happenings, or the fact I spent the night waiting for her to come out, I went into the clinic with the excuse I was following her suggestion about coming in for my upgrades before the next shift.

 

“When I went into the structure, there was no ‘bot there. So I waited. When no one emerged to find out who had come in, I went in search of her. I eventually found her in the slag bay, kneeling over the dead and trying to desperately find even a glimmer of spark in any of them. My very spark seemed to scald my chest with the desperate hope she displayed.

 

“As gently as I could, I pulled her away from them. At first, she tried to fight me, ‘No!’ she exclaimed. ‘I have to save them.’

 

“‘You can’t. They are gone,’ I said to her.

 

“‘What good is a medic who can’t repair even the most damaged?’ she pleaded with me.

 

“‘A Cybertronian,’ I told her. Finally, she gave up trying to return to the dead and turned to me. I held her as she sobbed into my chest.”

 

“Fluffy chest,” she mumbled sleepily.

 

“Eventually, she regained her composure. ‘I’m so sorry,’ she said to me.

 

“I told her no apologies were necessary, and that it was refreshing to find a medic who actually cared about her patients.

 

“We talked for a few moments, and then she escorted me back into the clinic where she completed my standard maintenance and upgrades. As she was finishing up, I was afraid I would never have the chance or courage to approach her again, so I asked her out.

 

“She said yes and we eventually were unified . . . That’s the Cybertronian version of marriage,” he clarified before she could ask.

 

“Wha’s it like?” Ellie wanted to know.

 

“A unification ceremony is a bit different than a human marriage ceremony. The two ‘bots basically report to a mutual network terminal, upload their petition to unify, then wait for approval. It only takes a few micro cycles for it to be approved or not. If it is, then they can cohabitate in the same quarters and begin their life together.”

 

“Party?” she asked.

 

“Sometimes. It depends on the unified couple’s standing, and how many other males a unified female already has.”

 

“Hmmmm?” the child made a quizzical sound.

 

Megatron chuckled. “Yes. Cybertronians practice polyandry.”

 

“Huh?”

 

“Ah! Found a human word even you don’t know did I?” he teased.

 

“Polyandry is the practice of a female being unified, or married in your language, to multiple males at the same time.

 

“You see, males outnumber females by over eighty to one in our society. So, to adjust to this, it is permitted for females to have as many males unified to her as she wants. Males can also unify on their own as well. Of course, if things don’t work out between the male and female, or one male and other males in her unification, the female can dismiss the male in question.

 

“Usually, she transfers her male’s unification state to another female. Sometimes, if no other female wants the male in question, well, it is considered a grave insult. At those times, either the female can transfer the male to one of her daughters, if she is lucky enough to have one, or just dissolve the unification status altogether. In those cases, it is rare that a male would find another female on his own. Occasionally, the male will get lucky and find a young female to unify with him before she has enough experience to know better.”

 

Megatron kept talking for another twenty minutes. He saw that his little one had fallen asleep sometime between his definition of polyandry and the social status of Cybertronian unification laws. Thinking about it, he realized the topic was a bit over the head of a twelve year old human, no matter how intelligent she was. But, he knew that the sound of his voice helped her sleep without nightmares.

 

Once he determined that the girl was sleeping soundly again, he settled back to watch her face. As was typical, when he spoke about his unified, the memories flooded him. This time, instead of turning them off to focus on the war, he allowed them to swamp his processors; he remembered the fun they had as they learned about each other, he remembered the absolute joy on her face when the approval came over the ‘net for their unification, he remembered how his circuits sang when she engaged his unification port, right there at the terminal in front of anyone who would be happening by. The feeling of her arms wrapped around him as his wrapped around her and their mouths fused to give her access to his most intimate memories. He could almost feel the slide of her access tube through his teeth to engage the port at the back of his mouth. In his memory, he was still laughing at her eagerness to drag him off to her residence, once there, she had told him, they would have to apply to get on the seeding cycles.

 

The memories flooded him, but instead of leaving him cold and angry as they usually did, he felt light again. For a few blessed moments, he was happy. Finally, the final memories came.

 

~~~~~FLASHBACK~~~~~

 

He was at the mine during his routine shift when the notice went out about another collapse. Running with the other miners, he was able to scoop up three salvage scrap drones and another miner who had fallen when the sound of another collapse behind him seemed to chase him out of the sector. He got to the assembly point as the last of the rumbling quieted.

 

Waiting around for the fore-mech to verify numbers and identities seemed to take forever. Eventually, they were told to report to the clinic to make certain there were no delayed injuries. Megatron felt as if he was floating as he ran to the clinic when she called him via their personal radio link. He remembered sliding to a stop when he heard the panic in her voice. “I’m fine. I’m on my way to the clinic,” he tried to answer her. But she didn’t hear. In desperation, he accessed her optics to see where she was. She was digging in the mine, screaming for him. He felt his very spark stutter at that instant when he realized she thought he had been caught in the cave-in. She was going to dig him out with her bare hands if she had to.

 

Turning around, he barely took a step before he had completed his aerial alt-form and was zooming off toward her location. He kept his connection to her, continually trying to get her attention that he was fine. She was simply too grief stricken to believe her audials.

 

Finally, he had zeroed in on her and was nearing her location when a secondary landslide let go above where she was digging. He saw the dirt close over her head through her optics, felt the boulders crushing her torso, then the sensation of being torn in two as her bottom half got caught between stationary boulders and her top half was still being carried away between the boulders in the moving soil.

 

He roared out his rage and anguish as the connection between them suddenly severed and he dove headlong toward the coordinates where he last had contact with her, calculating where she would be given the rate of descent of the soil’s movement. Diving into the soil as if it was nothing more than water, he prayed at that moment that he would either find her and she would survive, or he would die stabilizing the soil so that she would be found and survive.

 

The concussion of his entry into the landslide had the desired effect of thinning out the soil below it to make it easier to work through. It also temporarily stunned him. Megatron had not completely shaken off the effects when he was already in ‘bot form and searching the soil where he knew she should be. He even was using his enhanced ore vision to find the metals of her frame. Eventually, after what seemed like forever, he saw her hand sticking up through the debris. He lunged at it in desperation and began to dig around it. It was not connected to her body. Finally, he saw her face looking up through the dirt, the optics had been broken, so she couldn’t see, but he tried to let her know he was there, praying her audials were still working. He dug her out and held her tightly to his body, screaming for help. Slowly, or so it seemed to him, the rescue ‘bots arrived. They cracked open her chest to monitor the spark, and that was when he realized that she was truly dead.

 

The grief overwhelmed him at that time. In his rage, he succumbed to the ancient practice of self-mutilation, and ripped off his own lip plates.

 

~~~~~FLASHBACK~~~~~

 

Megatron came out of the self-induced fog of the memories and waited for the ever present anger to engulf him. It didn’t come. Instead, he felt only sadness at the loss of his beloved. He realized he didn’t even feel the usual hollow feeling.

 

Looking at his little one, he found a moment of crystal clarity about himself. For the first time, he accepted his role in the destruction of Cybertron; he was the linchpin that started it. True, there were a great deal of factors leading up to the final escalation, but he was the one who ultimately decided to pull the trigger.

 

He accepted that he was not, necessarily, a popular leader, most of his Decepticons followed him out of either fear or a love of fighting, and as long as he could continue to give that to them, they would continue to follow. But lately, in this place, he realized the war could not continue forever. He remembered the one question the girl asked him when he first got here and she was talking to him about the war; “What you’re fighting for might be worth dying for, but what do you have worth living for when the war is over?”

 

The question had stumped him. He never allowed himself to think about what was beyond the war. He was so consumed with his own grief and making the bureaucrats, and the Cybertronian society at large, pay for his unified’s death, he never thought about surviving the war. Now, he knew he must think about that, and what the price would be for anyone he cared about.

 

Remembering the way the others had been whispering about him recently after his girl could no longer hide her illness, and the way he lashed out at them all when she was particularly weakened by an episode, he realized they knew he cared about her.

 

He knew what he had to do, and the knowledge ripped his spark out.

 

VVVVVBREAKVVVVV

 

The sound of metallic treads in the connecting caverns brought Megatron out of his reverie.

 

He wriggled his way out of Ellie’s grasp. He landed on the dirt floor of the cavern. As was typical, he landed on his back, the balance of this body not suited to landing upright.

 

He pushed himself to his feet and toddled to the curtain. It took two tries for his plush fingers to find and grasp the edge so he could open it and look out. Out in the corridor, Bonecrusher was stopped in front of Ellie’s quarters; Soundwave in his hands.

 

“Yes?” Megatron demanded as quietly as he could through the child’s gate.

 

“Is the girl sleeping soundly?” Soundwave asked.

 

“Yes. She won’t overhear us. What is it?”

 

“You are aware that Optimus Prime and the Autobots will be arriving in twenty-one hours. What is the plan once they have aided the girl?”

 

“We will convince the girl to restore us to our bodies and then we will continue our assault on the Autobots.”

 

“How will we accomplish this with the Autobots here?”

 

“I will tell her the Autobots will want to kill all of us if she does not intervene on our behalf. It will scare her into hiding us before they get here and then it will be a matter of time before she will rebuild us.”

 

“Are you certain she will believe you?” It was the first time Soundwave ever outright questioned Megatron’s logic. He knew it was a risk, but he needed to gauge his response.

 

“Are you questioning me?” Megatron asked quietly. Dangerously.

 

“No. I am questioning the girl’s naiveté,” Soundwave answered.

 

“Naïve, is one thing the child is not,” Megatron chuckled. “The girl will obey. She likes me.”

 

“That is not a guarantee she will listen,” Bonecrusher interrupted.

 

“And how would you know?” Megatron asked.

 

“She knows her Elliebots want what is best for her, and she loves every last one. However, she still has directly ignored, or outright disobeyed more than one of their instructions.

 

“I would speculate that she would not be meeting with the Autobots tomorrow if she was still able to ignore her own illness.”

 

Megatron and Soundwave looked at each other in surprise. That was the longest thing Bonecrusher had ever said to either of them at one time.

 

“What proof do you have of this?” Soundwave questioned.

 

“The most recent example was when she and Jukes made initial contact with the Autobots today. Jukes confessed to Livewire that the girl would not eat the food they sent with her if she didn’t like it. Also, he informed the medic she left the shielding of her base to get sustenance she preferred.

 

“She knows she needs to eat properly, but will disobey if she doesn’t like the taste. She knows she needs to remain shielded or her illness will get worse, but, again, she will disobey if she so chooses.

 

“Also, she disobeyed Jukes, Livewire and the others when she created the arena for you and the others. She disobeyed Jazz and the rest of the Autobots when she gave you a body, even if it is that of a plush toy.”

 

Bonecrusher finished his lecture to silence. It took so long before either Soundwave or Megatron responded, he began to get nervous.

 

Megatron looked at Soundwave, and then did something he rarely ever did. “What would you suggest then?” he asked of Bonecrusher.

 

Bonecrusher was taken aback. Megatron never asked for anyone’s opinion unless he thought they would just confirm his own. Perhaps this was the time to share a little bit of the knowledge he had.

 

“I do not think the girl will allow any of us to be destroyed. She will only allow the Autobots access if she is certain they will treat us with some semblance of civility. It is my belief that she will restore us to our bodies in time. The key is, she has to trust us. If she does not trust any ‘bot, I believe she will not restore them.”

 

“And who, exactly, do you think she trusts? And who does she not?” Soundwave asked.

 

“She trusts me, you, Laserbeak and she trusts Megatron and his judgment on who is loyal to him. She does not trust Sentinel Prime, Shockwave or Starscream. Everyone else, she is up in the air about.”

 

Megatron had to chuckle. “She’s much more intelligent than even I realized if she doesn’t trust those three. The only one that I may have to work on her about would be Shockwave. I don’t trust his morality myself, but he is easy enough to handle when allowed to explore his scientific curiosity undisturbed.”

 

“That is what will keep him in his holo-preserver. He reminds her of her uncle,” Bonecrusher pointed out.

 

“If you can, let the others know, with the exception of Sentinel Prime, that they can win their own restoration if they can win the girl’s trust. Sentinel Prime can rust and rot for all I care,” Megatron ordered Soundwave.

 

The sound of Ellie becoming restless in her cot caught Megatron’s attention. “She is beginning to have another nightmare. Go now. Spread the word among the others.”

 

As the curtain dropped across the opening, the squishing sound of his stuffing shifting as he walked back to the girl receded. A few minutes later, they could hear his soft murmurings and the girl quieted.

 

“See? She trusts him. Very few other ‘bots have that effect on her,” Bonecrusher told Soundwave.

 

It was worse than Soundwave feared. Ellie and Megatron loved each other. For the first time in his existence, he made a decision that was completely selfless.

 

“Hand me off to Jukes when you return to your station. I believe it is time to start gaining the trust of more than just the girl,” he informed Bonecrusher.

 

Passing through the lab cavern, he found Jukes looking at the perimeter monitor. Without a word, he handed Soundwave’s holo-preserver to Jukes and trekked out to the arena.

 

Jukes was surprised when the spymaster looked directly at him and addressed him by name.

 

“You are Jukes, the girl’s oldest comrade and protector?” he confirmed.

 

“Yeah. And you are Soundwave, the spymaster of the Decepticons and the one ‘bot no other ‘bot completely trusts.”

 

“That would be correct.

 

“Now, I must share some information with you regarding Megatron. He has grown emotionally attached to the girl. This will prove to be dangerous to them both.”

 

“How so?” Jukes was curious. He knew they were becoming emotionally entangled, but thought it might be a good thing, at least as far as Ellie was concerned.

 

“Megatron has many enemies. Not only among the Autobots, but also within the Decepticon ranks as well. I had been monitoring their movements to try and find the ‘bot in charge when I arrived here. There are a couple here who may be directly connected to them, and a few more who are indirectly so. I fear that when, or if, we are restored to our bodies, they will give their leader an unusual power over Megatron.”

 

“You figure that if it becomes common knowledge that Megatron cares about Ellie, whoever this underground leader is will target her to gain leverage over him.”

 

“Correct.”

 

“Thank you for telling me. I believe the best course of action is to tell them both. I’m afraid that I can’t just arbitrarily separate them, or that might raise even more flags. Not to mention, it will wear out the reset button on most of the holo-preservers of the opponents he would face.

 

“No. When I go to pick up Megatron in the morning, I will tell them both that they seem to really be caring about each other. That should sound the alarm bells in his head and get him to pay more attention to his behavior about her.”

 

“That might be the wisest action,” Soundwave agreed. He had done all he can, now he had to leave it up to the Elliebot.

 

VVVVVBREAKVVVVV

 

Megatron returned to the cot and climbed his way up to where the child slept. “My little one,” he sighed as he stroked her cheek. “No matter what, know that you are my daughter. I fear that I have not guarded that fact as well as I could have. Now, my love for you has put you in danger, and for that . . . well, no words can convey my sorrow. I ask only that you forgive me for the betrayal I must commit to protect you.

 

“Optimus Prime and the other Autobots will be here tomorrow. They will protect you with their dying spark if they must. And Prime? My oldest and most honest friend, he will fall in love with you,” he chuckled. “How can he not? You are easy to love. I only hope that he will take you under his protection, and that you will love him in return. He deserves that, to be loved unconditionally.”


	11. Chapter 10

{i"Comm link communication."i}

CHAPTER TEN:

Wheelie emerged into the dark covered with the slime and other questionable muck from the drain. The area where he was was hidden by shadows cast by the hills on either side of him. He took a few moments to get his bearings. The cloudless night proved to be fortunate for that task, easily able to triangulate his position by the stars. 

“How the frick did I get all the way over here?” he wondered aloud. According to his calculations, he was almost four miles from the warehouse.

Looking around, he discovered a trail obviously made by countless other dirt bikes and bicycles glowing white under the three quarter moon. The lack of light from that direction determined his route.

“If I were going to make an escape route, I would want to stay out of the light to help me get as far away as possible as quickly as possible,” he reasoned to himself. 

‘Bot forming so he could jump the distance between the lip of the storm drain and the packed earth, he landed just an inch too short and fell into the running snow melt.

“For the love of . . .! Frick! That’s cold!” Wheelie exclaimed as he hurriedly climbed onto the shore. “Sheesh! I’m gonna end up like Megatron if I’m not careful. Boy! I hope I don’t get ice in my servos. That’d be painful.”

Alt forming and then ‘bot forming a couple of times helped him flush most of the almost freezing water out of his gears. Hoping that would be enough, he climbed his way onto the trail and followed it to the top of the hill.

He found himself in a parking lot adjacent to a baseball field. A stand of trees shielded it from the road. Looking around, he was able to see a space close to the top of the trail with the ghost image of Energon radiation still faintly visible to his thermal scans.

Quickly, he radioed back to Brains his location and request for pick up. He received confirmation that Optimus Prime and Prowl would be there in about eight minutes to retrieve him.

“Prowl?” Wheelie thought aloud. “When did he get on planet?” He hoped the former law enforcer would have more important concerns than enforcing the minor antiquities trading warrant he was wanted for on Cybertron.

VVVVVBREAKVVVVV

Optimus arrived at the coordinates and found Wheelie suspiciously covered with dirt and debris, as if he had jumped into the nearby mud puddle and then rolled around in the lot.

“Wheelie, report,” he ordered.

“Okay boss. Got out of the tunnels over there,” he pointed to the gully, “about twenty minutes ago. It seemed the boiler room had a hole made into the wall to provide access to the local storm drains. Fell into the water when I couldn’t make the jump from the tunnels to the path that led up to here.”

Wheelie then walked over to stand at the top of the path and then pointed to a parking space. “I noticed an Energon echo in that parking spot. Looks like this girl has more than one ‘bot helping her. I’m guessing whoever this guy was, he was waiting for a while for them to get here.”

“Yes, we have since learned that she has a compliment of about twelve or so ‘bots helping her,” Optimus confirmed.

“Prowl, what is your analysis?” he asked.

“Are you aware this mech has a warrant for antiquities trading on Cybertron?” Prowl asked. He had been looking suspiciously at Wheelie throughout his narrative.

“I did not know this. However, given the current situation of a war, I think we can consider him as making restitution,” Optimus said distractedly. He was gauging the size of the tunnels the girl had used as an escape route.

“Yes, my Prime,” Prowl relented.

Kneeling down to examine the Energon echo he ran a few diagnostics and verified his calculations with his forensic scanner. “This mech is about twenty-two to twenty-five feet tall in his ‘bot form. His alt form is an extended cab pick-up truck or SUV given the distance in the wheelbase, the tire track is standard on GM models. He is either less than ten Earth-years old, or else he found another source of Energon, given how large of an echo he left. And given the dispersion rate of Energon, he would have had to be setting here at least twenty hours, and left about twelve hours ago.” 

“What do you think about this tunnel?” Optimus asked him.

“If they are this large the entire way through, most of us would be able to use them as escape routes ourselves if we remained in our alt’ forms,” Prowl advised.

“Actually, they vary in size by about two feet, depending on which way you go,” Wheelie supplied. “And the boiler room is the most confined, mostly because of all the piping and stuff through it.”

“Not to mention the access to the boiler room is human sized,” Prowl stated.

“I believe the girl has been setting this up to help us from the beginning,” Optimus speculated. “She appears to be giving us a foundation to function independently from the humans; choosing buildings and locations that are easily defended and have access to multiple escape routes. I wonder . . .” Optimus thought aloud.

{i“Brains? This is Optimus Prime,”i} he comm'd back. {i“Have the others re-examine the entire property listed on the deed to the warehouse. I want them to look for hidden entrances and openings that connect with tunnels and other pre-existing man-made and natural through-ways.”i}

{i“Funny you should mention that,”i} Brains sent back. {i“We’ve found three other openings to tunnels like that, and we also discovered that this entire industrial complex was bought at the same time as this building. Do you want us to examine the other structures now, or do you want to wait ‘til morning?”i}

{i“Recon the other structures for defensibility and see if there are any uninvited guests tonight. We will conduct a more thorough search in the morning.

{i“Has Hound made it yet?”i} Optimus wanted to know.

{i“Radioed in about five minutes ago. He’s about twenty minutes out.”i}

{i“Acknowledged. Out. i}

“Have we learned everything we can here, Prowl?” Optimus asked.

“I believe so. Unless you would let me question Wheelie on the way back?” Prowl asked, almost eagerly.

“Seriously, forget the warrant. You can keep an eye on him if you would like, but he is an Autobot now. 

“Let’s roll out. Back to the warehouse,” Optimus ordered.

Grabbing Wheelie, he alt formed and headed back toward the complex. “Please try not to leak all over my upholstery. It was just cleaned three days ago,” he asked the little ‘bot.

Prowl turned on his lights as he gave the Autobot leader a police escort back to the new base. He liked this new form as a Pennsylvania state highway patrol car.

VVVVVBREAKVVVVV

Barricade watched the report flash across his terminal. This was even more fortuitous than he could have hoped for. Not only were Megatron and Starscream dead, with no apparent chance of re-animation, but so was Soundwave. The cherry on the top of his usurper’s sundae, he would say, was that Shockwave was also in the same state. Could functioning be any sweeter?

VVVVVBREAKVVVVV

After his fourth trip to the bathroom to vomit, General Lennox decided to just watch the rest of the videos there. After all, it was going to make his wife and children upset hearing him running through the house.

Finally, after another two episodes of hugging the toilet and three more dry heaves, he got through every single video. He washed his face and was brushing his teeth to get rid of the taste when he glanced up and saw his wife staring in horror at the laptop with tears streaking her face.

“Sarah! How long have you been standing there?” he asked in concern.

“After the fifth round,” she answered distractedly.

“Who is she? Who is that poor baby girl they did such unconscionable things to? Why did they do all that to her? Where are her parents that they could let that happen? Who was the monster that did that? Who?”

“I can’t tell you the answers to all of those questions. Believe me, those are a lot of the same questions I intend to ask my supervisors.

“I can tell you that she is an orphan and the man responsible for,” he getstured helplessly at the laptop, “is her uncle.

“Now, I need you to not let on you saw any of those videos. The Sec Def himself as well as several higher ups in the government are going to be here in about an hour to be briefed on her. I don’t want them to think you might be a liability and saw something you shouldn’t have.”

“You’re right. I probably shouldn’t be here at all. I’m going to take the kids to the movies. There’s a new cartoon they have been pestering me to go see.” She wiped the tears from her face and looked at her husband.

“Just tell me one thing, is she safe now?”

“Yes. I gave temporary, emergency custody to the Autobots. They won’t let anything happen to her.”

Sarah seemed to relax in relief as she looked at her husband.

“I’m going to use the joint account to take the kids to the movies. Call me when your meeting is over,” she said as she kissed him on the freshly cleaned cheek.

VVVVVBREAKVVVVV

It had been 21 times. He had onlined 21 times and they had not returned. 

He was growing desperate, he needed the voice in his audial to keep him from giving in to the glitch. He could not see it, his optics were inoperable, but he heard it. Its high-pitched tone, grating on his sensors, at first, eventually becoming a welcome distraction. It was a way for him to mark time, an anchor to hold on to in his desperate attempt to retain his processors. 

There was no way to understand it. They did not share a language, so he had no idea what was being said. Pit! He couldn't even see to try and guess the meaning of the words used. The best he could do was record the rambling words in the vain hope he could, eventually, learn what had been said.

His spark hurt. He knew there was damage to his chassis, but that wasn't the real reason; he needed his twin.

They weren't coming. He had been online now for jours, he knew he had and they hadn't arrived. They were gone. He was alone again. He couldn't face the silence or the dark. He needed some sort of stimulation, but there was nothing present. Where was it? At least its presence gave him something tangible to hold on to, proof that he wasn't really alone. 

He wondered what it looked like. It sounded bi-pedal, like his own race, but softer. Maybe an organic species? 

Most of the organic species his kind had come across in their travels did not seem, to him anyway, to be all that interesting. Definitely not that attractive either. He imagined what it would look like and focused his entire attention on the lines and details a paintbrush would yield to capture the physical attributes of the bearer of the voice. With infinite patience, he painted a masterpiece portrait of his anchor in his mind until stasis claimed him again.

VVVVVBREAKVVVVV

Lennox set up the laptop in the panic room of his basement. Since he was a general now, it was considered a necessity to have secure locations easily accessible to him. After all, you never knew when a war was going to break out and you would be isolated.

Finally, after making sure there was plenty of water, and leak proof garbage cans available, the first members of the meeting arrived.

“Okay, since we are all here now,” he addressed them twenty minutes later, “I need to brief you on something that has just come to my attention. It is in regards to an experiment conducted under former S-seven control, designation Maimed Angel.”

“Yes, I am familiar with the project,” Tom Banichek interrupted.

“It involved implanting cybernetic technology into the body of a brain dead soldier. As I understand it, it was proving to be most promising until N.B.E. one’s escape compromised the subject and they had to end the research.”

“Let me guess, Dr. Alistair Carlisle told you that?”

“Yes. He and his assistant, Dr. Alicia Elgin gave me regular updates.”

“They lied,” Lennox said simply. “The truth is, the so called subject of the Maimed Angel project was Dr. Carlisle’s injured three-year-old niece. She wasn’t brain dead, the accident that killed her mother cost her both legs, an arm, eye and ear.”

“I don’t believe it. I would never have allowed that to happen,” Banichek defended.

“Whether you would or not is beside the point. The fact is, it happened, and when Megatron escaped, so did the girl. She has been hiding and running ever since.”

“How do you know all of this?” the Secretary of Defense, Dr. Jason Longhorne, asked.

“Because the girl is becoming ill as a result of the experiments conducted on her. When she realized she was becoming incapacitated, she sought out the Autobots. They, in turn, notified me.

“She left them this proof about what happened to her. I do have to warn you though, it is quite sickening to watch. That’s why I took the liberty of providing you all with barf buckets. They’re under the table in front of you.”

After the video was over, and several of the repurposed garbage cans had been used, the collected group sat in silence as they absorbed what they had seen.

“Where is the girl now?” Security Advisor Jennifer Agosto asked finally.

“I granted the Autobots emergency custody until a full investigation can be conducted. I mean, if it was these cybernetic implants that made her sick they would be the best chance of helping her.”

“Have them surrender the girl to us as soon as possible,” Dr. Longhorne decided.

“With all due respect sir, I can’t do that. Even if Banichek didn’t know about it, somebody did, and the Autobots and I agree she is safer with them than in military custody where her uncle will get her back.”

“Consider it an order,” he replied.

“Belay that,” Agosto intervened.

“Optimus Prime and the Autobots will keep her until I brief the president. Then, we will allow him to decide her custody issue.

“Inform them they can have access to anything they will need to save her. 

“Am I correct in assuming the issues facing the girl are potentially terminal?” she asked as she looked the Sec Def in the eye.

“According to the Autobot chief medical officer, Ratchet,” Lennox nodded.

“I will need this proof to brief the president. I’m sure he will be available after his vacation next week,” she told Lennox as she reached for the laptop.

“Yes ma’am,” he answered as he handed it over.


	12. Chapter 11

CHAPTER ELEVEN:

 

The sun filtered through the lair as if it were high noon. That was one of the bad things about the quartz veins; they always amplified the light of the sun. The curtain across the entry to Ellie’s room provided just enough shadow to not startle the poor girl awake with the first rays of dawn, but allowed enough light to spill around the edges to softly illuminate the small cavern.

 

Megatron left his position beside her head to prepare the room for her day with a heavy spark. He jumped off the bed and righted himself. First thing he did was move her shoes closer to her cot so she would not have to walk across the floor to gather them. Then, he gathered up the quilts she had kicked off during the night and returned them to the foot locker. Inspecting his work with a critical eye, he nodded once and climbed back up to the little one’s table. There, he picked up the dark glasses she always wore and fingered them as he waited for her to awaken.

 

After about an hour or so, she began to stir. Slowly, she woke up. He was pleased to note that; it meant she had slept soundly and was well rested. He heard Jukes arrive and wait outside the curtain for the girl to call him in.

 

Finally, she moaned. “I don’t want to get up,” she said.

 

“Then why don’t you go back to sleep?” Megatron asked her.

 

“‘Cause I hafta pee,” she announced miserably.

 

“Oh. So, why don’t you go relieve yourself and go back to sleep?”

 

“We both know that once I’m up, I can’t go back to sleep unless I’m sick.”

 

“You are sick. That’s why you sent for the medic to come today. Remember?”

 

“That’s today?!” the girl gasped.

 

“Yes,” this worried Megatron, because it meant that her memory was getting worse.

 

“Do you remember my name?” he asked her.

 

Ellie thought for a moment. “Megs,” she said with authority.

 

“Close,” he confirmed.

 

“Okay, it’s Megatron, but I call you Megs because I can.”

 

“You call me that wretched name because you know I don’t like it.”

 

“You just say you don’t like it. I think you don’t like that you like it.”

 

“Will you please put on your shoes and call to Jukes to come in? This conversation is going nowhere,” Megatron demanded as he handed her the sun glasses.

 

Ellie put them on as she sat up and put her metallic feet into her shoes. They were right where they were supposed to be; under her feet when she sat on the side of her cot.

 

“What time is it?” she asked him.

 

“I believe it is around eight a.m.” he said.

 

“Okay. I still have ten hours to get everything ready. I wonder who else besides this Ratchet ‘bot is going to come. Any ideas?”

 

“Most definitely, Prime, himself. He will not allow his medical officer to enter into an unknown situation. At least two other ‘bots with a great deal of fire power each as well.”

 

“How tall is the tallest one?”

 

“Prime is the tallest. He stands about thirty feet tall, much like my own body.”

 

Ellie looked down at him quickly and frowned before she quickly looked away.

 

Megatron felt a momentary pang of guilt. He would admit that he didn’t start out really liking this body, but, after a while, he found it had its perks; the least of which was not worrying about scratching her when he touched her as she slept, or worse.

 

“Then I guess we can offer him the alcove off the steam cavern. That’s got about a forty foot clearance. At least he wouldn’t be banging his head all over the place.”

 

“Wait a minute! You mean they will be invited to stay here?” Megatron was incensed.

 

“Of course. What did you think was going to happen? This Ratchet ‘bot was going to take one look at me, wave a magic wand and disappear?”

 

“Of course not! But I did not believe you would allow them to come to this place. I believed you would go with them and get care at their facility.”

 

“And then what? Just happily wake up in my uncle’s lab when the anesthetic wears off? Or worse, in some government hospital where they can monitor my every move again, if they even let him fix whatever is wrong? Besides, how else can I be sure they would have the facilities necessary to keep me comfortable and safe?”

 

Megatron didn’t know what to say to that.

 

“Would you like to call in Jukes now?” he asked. She had finished gathering her change of clothes and bathing supplies.

 

She sighed heavily, “Fine.

 

“Jukes! You can take Megs back to the others now,” she called.

 

VVVVVBREAKVVVVV

 

Jukes was inordinately proud of his little Ellie. She held her own against the Decepticon leader, even making him change the subject rather hastily.

 

Now, he had to make them both rather unhappy to protect them both.

 

“I hear the love birds are having a morning spat,” he greeted as he pulled back the curtain.

 

“Explain that remark!” Megatron ordered.

 

“What? The way you two were going back and forth, you almost sounded like a father, daughter debating team.”

 

Ellie smiled and headed past him for the entryway to the alcove. Megatron was utterly still as Jukes reached for him.

 

Jukes was glad the Cybertronian was taking the time to assess this new information. Yes, it would hurt Ellie, but it might save her life. If Soundwave was to be believed, then Megatron didn’t know he was already on his way down, and he would be turning Ellie into the landing pad when he fell.

 

VVVVVBREAKVVVVV

 

Ellie left the alcove that served as her quarters and made a right, following the corridor past the lab and up a slight incline that arched to the right and over the lab. Once at the apex, she stayed to the left fork that led to the natural pools that she used as her bathroom. After she took care of her business, she washed her hair the best way she could and bathed, quickly exiting the water for fear of rusting.

 

She toweled off and sat on a ledge closest to the back wall where the water condensed on the ceiling from the sauna chamber below. Here, her hair would dry quickly, and she would have some private time to take care of some personal matters.

 

The first thing she did was access the recording her audial made overnight. She was sad that Boomer and Papatron were still scheming behind her back. They were becoming family. But, she realized, they didn’t know what that meant. She also knew they didn’t know that was her feeling about them. They didn’t, necessarily, share the same feelings. Except Papatron, him, she knew. Briefly, she wondered how he would react if she confessed to him she could feel his emotions. Probably get mad and accuse her of manipulating him.

 

Shaking herself out of her thoughts, she turned her attention back to the recording. She knew that B.C. would repeat the conversation to her at a later time, when no one else would be able to overhear them and he could still gain information from the Decepticon side. He was truly converted to an Elliebot, as her oddball assortment of friends chose to dub themselves. Scanning through the rest of the recording, she briefly wondered what her Papatron meant about betrayal, then shook her head and dumped the sections that had nothing on them.

 

She wondered what the others would say if they ever found out she continued to record sounds and video through her cybernetic implants even when she was sleeping. Scratch that, she wondered if the others would be mad at her, or pity her for not having the option of turning them off. It wasn’t like she even had an eyelid to close over the optic anyway, and she tried to sleep with her audial implant in the pillow to keep it somewhat quiet in her head.

 

Shaking herself out of her thoughts, she turned to the laptop and plugged it into the extension cord she had strung from one of the various generators that were strategically placed around the lair.

 

It only took a few minutes for the laptop to power up and login to the downloads her secret friends had sent her. They were a series of files about the soldiers her uncle had “healed,” as they thought, and recruited into his personal military. Then, there was a video file. She read the files about the soldiers, including the new “Lazarus” and “Phoenix” units and memorized them. Then she turned to the video. It was prefaced by Maestro’s lilting brogue urging her to act quickly.

 

The video was a security camera feed. It showed several cameras in a grainy black and white, recording the movement of everyone on the base. Then, the flurry of activity on the camera focused on the observation bay caught her attention. She selected the camera, bringing the video to the whole screen, and felt her heart fall to her feet. What they were bringing in was bad enough, but who was receiving it was enough to make her blood freeze in her veins.

 

VVVVVBREAKVVVVV

 

“So, that's the situation,” Ellie said as she paced back and forth in front of the silent figure. “And I'm not sure what I can do.

 

“I mean, they all need to know! But, I don't know how I can tell 'em or when.”

 

The girl turned toward the being with a sigh as she contemplated it. She started toward the inert form and snagged a small wire brush on her way. Deftly, Ellie began to work at some of the dirt in the smaller seams in a hand.

 

“Sheesh! Some of this dirt is really caked in here. You must've really put up a fight if the way the dirt is jammed up is any indication.”

 

The girl made a disgusted face as a large chunk of dirt and rust fell from a seam to land with a metallic clang on the stone floor.

 

“So,” she continued as grime was worked out of a joint, “I know I need to tell 'em, an' I understand that you guys are at war, so Jazz's guys ain't gonna like the idea of the Decepticons knowing . . . but it directly involves them, so they have the right to know. So I can't really hide the information from them.

 

“Maybe I need to talk to Megatron and ask him his opinion.

 

“Or,” she said as a devious smirk crept over her face, “I can ask Megatron his opinion, but tell all of my guys anyway and blame it on him. Then I'll tell these Autobot guys when they get here.

 

“Yeah! That's what I'll do.”

 

Ellie placed the wire brush she had been using back in its place and grabbed the lantern off the makeshift work table.

 

“Thanks for listening, Goldie!” the girl called back as she darted out of the cavern, taking the light with her.

 

The groan of grease-less gears attempting to move was drowned out by the sound of retreating footfalls. A blue light flickered briefly in the dark as the recently freed digit twitched in a spasm minutely before the being stilled in exhaustion.

 

VVVVVBREAKVVVVV

 

She knew this was a bad idea. But, everyone involved deserved to know. The question was, when should she tell them? If she waited until Jazz and his friends got here, she would only have to tell everyone once. But, if she did that, then she didn’t know how they would react to her sharing the information with her holo friends.

 

She needed to talk to Megatron. Ask him if he would object to her showing the portion of the video with her uncle in it so everyone would know exactly how far he was from where he should be.

 

Hastily shoving her dark glasses up on her nose, she raced out of the cavern and through the meeting room.

 

Clyde, Soto, Mike and the spidrobots were already at the rendezvous site to make certain there would be no ambush, or worse; soldiers.

 

“Jukes! Livewire! B.C.! Quick! Get everyone to the arena. Make sure you grab Que and Shockwave too.

 

“Megatron. I need to talk to you privately,” she said. Not giving him the chance to answer, she grabbed him and shoved him under her cybernetic arm. She picked the hastily dropped laptop back up and ran to her quarters.

 

“I need to ask you a favor,” she said breathlessly.

 

“What favor can I possibly do for you?”

 

“I promised when I told you about what my uncle did to you, I would never show any part of that video without your permission. Well, I need your permission to show the portion of the video with my Uncle Al in it to the rest of the guys.”

 

“For what purpose?”

 

“I need everyone to see what my uncle’s condition is supposed to be.”

 

“Supposed to be?” he parroted.

 

“Yes. I promise to cut the audio and just use a still if that will help. But it’s really, really important. You know I wouldn’t ask unless it was.”

 

Megatron sized up the girl for a moment. Coming to a decision, he nodded. “You may use a still, with no audio.”

 

“Thank you,” she sighed her relief. “Now, I need your advice; I got some video from a friend still attached to my uncle’s work. It involves all of you, including the Autobots. It’s only fair I should share it with all of you, but I know if I wait ‘til they get here, they will not want you Decepticons to know. So, should I wait anyway and let them know I’m in charge of my own information, or should I show the rest of you guys now, and then play catch up with them?”

 

“You have me curious girl, and I don’t like being made to wait. Show us now and then, if you feel you must, show the Autobots.”

 

“That’s what I was planning on doing. But now, I can blame it on you,” she grinned devilishly.

 

Megatron chuckled.

 

VVVVVBREAKVVVVV

 

Checking the lab, Ellie retrieved Que from his dock attached to robotic arms. Not having the dexterity to carry his holo-preserver, and the laptop and Megatron and the port adapter, she placed them all on a cart and pulled them along ‘til she met Livewire coming through the work room to retrieve Que.

 

“Did you get Shockwave and the rest docked into the arena?” she asked.

 

“In process,” he answered.

 

“What’s the big hoopla about?” he asked.

 

“Something very scary that answers a lot of questions, and asks even more scary questions.”

 

“Is that all I’m going to get?”

 

“That’s it.”

 

Livewire mumbled about his spark as he took the cart with Que and Megatron on it to the arena.

 

Ellie scooped up her laptop and set up the adapter at one of the external arena ports as Livewire accessed the data burst download of the briefing.

 

The holographic images chattered excitedly among themselves. This was the first time their captor ever seemed so frightened and excitable, they said to each other. They speculated about what was happening.

 

Seeing that they were all locked in to their respective docks, Ellie walked out into the center of the arena. Instantly, the entire assembly quieted.

 

“Everyone. I know this is unusual for me to bring you all together like this, but I can assure you it is for a very good reason.

 

“As many of you have been told already, I was used as an experiment by my uncle from the ages of three ‘til seven. Then, being held in the same facility as Megatron when he was in cryo-stasis, I managed to escape with the help of a few friends when he did.”

 

Ellie stopped to take a breath and gauge the reaction of the images. Most seemed just as confused now as when she first started.

 

“A couple of the friends who helped me get out are still attached to my uncle’s work, and were able to send me a video that you all need to see.”

 

She walked out of the arena and up the steps to where her laptop was sitting at the ready. Turning it on, she began to explain the back story so they would understand why she was so upset.

 

“This is my uncle, Doctor Alistair Carlisle,” she said when the image appeared as a hologram in the center of the arena. “He is in the wheelchair because he was in an accident that broke vertebrae t-five when he was nineteen years old,” she explained as the image dissolved to the anatomical depiction of the human spine.

 

“A break at this location will result in the victim being paralyzed from the chest down, leaving them without the fine motor control to work their fingers, and a greater chance of developing problems with their lungs,” she continued.

 

“Once the spinal column has been damaged, it is irreparable. That means he was confined to his wheelchair for the rest of his life.

 

“This is a still of the video I just received,” Ellie reported as the image solidified. The picture was clear; her uncle was standing with the aid of a single cane, and was using it to point to something off camera.

 

The arena remained silent, fascinated by what she was telling them.

 

“The reason you should all be concerned about this, is because he has been using your technology to repair his back. Just as he used your technology to repair me, he is continuing to use your bodies to repair himself, and others like us.”

 

With that, Ellie played the video from the beginning. In it, the holograms all saw the bodies of the Autobots being maneuvered into bays to be examined, mutilated, disassembled, reassembled and harvested. Some of the bays had their own bodies in them already, and in various stages of disassembly. There was one table that had a number of their disembodied heads on it, the optics either removed, or in the process.

 

Ellie ended the video to the murmurs of the sparks. To the surprise of all, Shockwave appeared in the center of the arena.

 

“Listen to me,” he stated. The arena instantly quieted.

 

“I am a scientist. I have never known any other way of being. Today, I now know I’ve become an experimental subject as well. This is something I never considered. I do not like the knowledge.

 

“As a scientist, I can tell you how this affects us; without the majority of our primary systems intact, we cannot be restored to our bodies. Our sparks may continue to function, and, thanks to these holo-preservers, we may continue to be self-aware, but, we will be incapable of having new bodies to inhabit as well. We may be able to survive for a while, however, eventually, we will all cease to function.

 

“We must get our bodies back if we want to live again!” Shockwave finished.

 

Ellie went back to the arena to stand beside Shockwave’s massive holo-image. “That’s why I need your help. We, all of us, need to figure out a way to get your bodies back. First, though, we need to know what whoever goes in there will be facing. I received more information regarding that issue. It is how the technology he is stealing from you is being used.

 

“He has nine numbered divisions that have multiple implants, like myself. Then, he has named divisions that are grouped according to whichever single implant they have. But, there are two new divisions: the Lazarus division, and the Phoenix division.

 

“I’m not sure what either of those divisions are supposed to represent. I know that Lazarus is a character from the Christian bible that was raised from the dead. And the Phoenix was a mythical bird who rose from the ashes of his apparent death every morning.

 

“As of right now, there are only five people assigned to the Lazarus division, and two assigned to Phoenix.”

 

“What are the names of some of the other divisions?” Shockwave asked.

 

Ellie closed her eye and brought up the files in her mind. “Deadeyes are the snipers and external guards. They have optics. Total assigned are twenty-four. Vulcans are the espionage contingent. They have audials. Total assigned are six. Following are not specialized according to duties; Bears have arms, Things have hands, Kangaroos have legs, Rabbits have feet and Boas are spinal cords. Total number of personnel engaged by these forces, including numbered divisions; six hundred forty-seven current active members. Eight members are listed for extermination. Twenty-three new members are scheduled for enrollment within the next thirteen days. All information current as of twenty-six hours ago.”

 

She opened her eyes and looked at Shockwave. He was staring at her with a faraway look in his optic as he considered the information.

 

Feeling the tell-tale crackle of electricity behind her, she glanced back to see Boomer’s holo-image solidify. Briefly looking at her strangely, he raised his optics to the other.

 

“I’m assuming you mean the reptile vertebrate instead of the feathery garment,” he addressed her as he kept his sensors locked on the scientist.

 

Temporarily confused by the apparent show-down between the two, it took a moment for Ellie to realize what he was asking. “Huh? Oh! Yeah, right.”

 

Clearly oblivious to the mounting tension surrounding him, Shockwave visibly shook himself out of his reverie and addressed her directly. “Re-animation and Exoskeletal replacement.”

 

“What?” her face visibly paled. She really hoped he wasn’t just confirming her worst fears.

 

“The Lazarus mythos depicts the re-animation of a corpse, for all intents and purposes. The Phoenix mythos describes the replacement of the external physical presence of the character.

 

“Given the doctor’s penchant for naming his divisions for the feature he replaced, it makes sense.”

 

“I really hope you’re wrong,” she said as she instinctively retreated closer to Soundwave’s holo-image.

 

Soundwave, her Boomer, barely twitched his hand in response to the automatic urge to protect the girl. For all the enemies Megatron had, he knew he had twenty-times as many. Any display of emotional attachment to the girl would sign her death warrant. He would sacrifice himself before he would let any of them even fathom the idea of hurting her.

 

Unfortunately, “barely” a twitch was not the same as no reaction. Someone saw it. He just hoped that whoever it was turned out to be on her side.

 

VVVVVBREAKVVVVV

 

From his dock at the top of the arena, Sentinel Prime watched the whole scene play out below him. Megatron, docked beside him still in the pathetic teddy bear body, clenched his fist, but remained silent when Shockwave interrupted.

 

It was a total surprise to him when Soundwave materialized at the child’s back. It must have been just as much of a surprise to the spymaster’s minions, given how quickly they looked back to see if he was still in the holo-imaging device. Then, when he had to keep himself from reaching out to the girl when she sought his comfort, the action was telling.

 

“Interesting,” he thought. Very interesting indeed.


	13. Chapter 12

[C“This is Cybertronian,”C] Spoken Cybertronian  
{i“Comm link communication,”i} Speaking through comm link.

CHAPTER TWELVE:

“Ratchet, Hound and Sideswipe will accompany me to this meeting,” Optimus was saying to the assembled group. Bumblebee made a loud whistling sound.

“What is it Bumblebee?” Optimus asked.

“I’m coming,” he spliced.

“No. You need to report back to the base and find out why we are being misdirected regarding the others’ bodies.”

Bumblebee placed a hand on the leaders forearm. He looked his leader in the optic and tried to show the absolute desperation he felt about this. “Please. I have to come,” he quietly spliced.

Optimus looked at his soldier’s optics and felt himself soften. This was out of character for the young soldier. Bumblebee never begged to go to meetings like this. He was momentarily concerned for the ‘bot. Perhaps it would be best to bring him along so he could keep an optic on him. Besides, what difference would it make if he took Bumblebee with him this trip or next? He knew there would be a next time.

“Alright. Ratchet, Hound and Sideswipe will accompany me to this meeting,” he raised a hand to Bumblebee. “Hot Rod, Wheelie and Bumblebee will wait at the fall back location in case something goes wrong. After we meet with this girl, we will rendezvous either at the fallback or on the way to this lair, depending on how this meeting goes.

“Ratchet, what’s the status of Ironhide’s body?”

“It’ll work for the short term, but I don’t think it’ll last all that long.”

“How long is that?”

“About ten to fifteen years,” he answered dejectedly.

“And that’s bad?” Bumblebee had to ask.

“Of course! We live for tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of Earth years at least! This body is only good for a matter of a few.”

“It’ll work ‘til we can get my body back and repaired,” Ironhide answered on his own behalf as he walked down from the clean area. His new body was only about six foot tall and couldn’t transform. He also didn’t have any in-built weapons, but he was up and about and aware. And, if he needed to, he could fit into human clothes to go undercover.

He would never admit that the few times he saw Jukes wearing his human clothes, he was jealous that the ‘bot could directly interact with humans on a more familiar scale. That was the one thing he wished about this planet, the populace knew about his kind. He wished he didn’t have to always be in his alt form when in public.

“Okay, fine,” Optimus got back on point.

“You’ll ride with me. Jazz and the femmes will ride with Hound.

“Dino, I need you to go back to the D.C. base and find out what the holdup is about getting our bodies back. Take Brains with you. If they are either unwilling or unable to give you a straight answer, Brains can hack into their system and get it for us.”

He looked around at his assembled group and felt his spark swelling with pride. These were his soldiers, they were all tired of fighting an endless war, but they hadn’t let it destroy their personalities. He was relieved about that.

“Now, those of you with Hound’s unit, this is your own personal base. Keep it secure. 

“Everyone has their orders. Autobots! Let’s roll!”

VVVVVBREAKVVVVV

The spidrobots fanned out according to Clyde’s instructions. Weaver assumed her alt form of a radio controlled helicopter and took off to scout the area. A quick visual scan revealed nothing obvious, but her thermal scan showed three, four-man teams hiding out deep in the woods. She transmitted the information to the others and landed near the road. The spidrobots met up and deployed, easily gaining hiding spaces close enough to the teams to dispatch them when it was closer to the meeting time.

Soto and Mike arrived first, the small picnic shelter providing the ideal spot to assume their alt forms and wait for any further attempted ambushes. Clyde ‘bot formed and approached the gate. It was locked, so he waited until he heard engines approach up the road. Quickly, he hid behind a stand of trees and watched to see if they were the medic and his crew or workers at the facility. The first vehicle he saw had an Energon signature. His alt form was that of a state patrol car. He approached the gate and ‘bot formed, checking to see if it was locked. When it proved to be, he stepped over the fence and went up into the facility.

{“Mike, Energon signature just jumped the fence. Alt form of state trooper. Find out where he is going and whose side he’s on,”} Clyde radioed.

Mike sent back the acknowledgment code and ‘bot formed so he could climb over the fence. Quickly, he jumped down and ran to the knoll over the road the ‘bot would have to take. He saw the mech slowly pass through the security check, abandoned for the winter, and continue past the office building ‘til he was out of sight. Moving from his position, he shadowed the ‘bot around the facility, maintaining a jamming field around himself to keep any ‘bot’s standard scans from spotting him. The car rolled behind the event center near the top of the hill when Mike lost him. After waiting a few moments for the ‘bot to come around to the other side, the little microwave became nervous. What was he doing over there?

{“Mike, status of ‘bot,”} Clyde ordered.

{C“He’s on the other side of the event center building. He hasn’t rolled through. I can’t move my position without exposing myself.”C}

{“Do you have optics on him?”}

{C“Negative. He’s out of view.”C}

{“Soto, can you move your position to get optics on unknown?”}

{“Affirmative,”} Soto replied.

A few seconds later, Soto radioed back, {“Trooper is not behind the building. Not on the track. Trooper located. He’s jumped the fence again and is on the other side of the hill behind us.

{“Instructions?”} Soto asked. 

VVVVVBREAKVVVVV

Prowl was stalking up on the position of the ‘bot when he picked up the signature of another, larger ‘bot. Dismissing the smaller of the two as the lesser threat, he ‘bot formed and jumped the fence to the track. Making sure to keep his form below the hill crest, he snuck on two legs to the lowest point of the property in front of him. He easily jumped the fence and flattened himself into the ground. He kept his scanners glued to the threat in front of him and behind the building as he became motionless and waited for confirmation that he hadn’t been detected. When they both didn’t move, he radioed back to Optimus.

{C“Confirmed two ‘bots here. Wait to see if anyone else shows up or engage?”C} he asked.

{C“Wait for the moment. This girl has been relatively honest with us so far. I do not think they are there to ambush us.

{C“Keep me posted.”C}

{“Ten-four,”} he responded. He had picked up the human law enforcement lingo some time ago.

He was intent on his targets, and never even realized there was another ‘bot behind him until he heard him speak.

VVVVVBREAKVVVVV

Clyde ordered both ‘bots to maintain their positions and jumped the fence himself. He kept to his bipedal form to keep his approach somewhat silent. As stealthily as he could, he made the same circuit the trooper started to make, but then jumped the fence further down the property where it circled back around, making it less likely the ‘bot would hear him land. Then, it was a matter of stepping over the fence behind him and sneaking up.

“Would you care to explain why you are attempting to ambush us?” Clyde asked the newcomer.

The ‘bot spun around and brought his weapon to bear. 

“Relax. If I wanted to kill you, you’d already be dead.” He never bothered to arm as a naïve show of confidence.

Soto and Mike hurried up and were not so civil.

The newcomer uneasily shifted as he swung his weapon around to target the other two. Clyde easily grabbed the gun and held it in the ‘bot’s hand. The markings on his helm were those of Jazz and his friends, so he never tried to disarm him.

“Will you put that thing away before you make my brothers nervous?” Clyde asked as he let the ‘bot keep his gun when he removed his hand.

Looking at his companions, he pointed out the newcomer’s signs.

VVVVVBREAKVVVVV

Prowl was completely embarrassed; how could he have possibly allowed this ‘bot to get the drop on him? He was a professional for Primus’ sake! Still, the ‘bot didn’t take his weapon. So, either these guys were on the up and up, they were incredibly naïve, or else they were just really stupid. And what was that he was saying about an ambush?

“I’m the first one to arrive. I was here to make certain this wasn’t a Decepticon trick.”

“That is one of the reasons we didn’t kill you; Ellie said you would come to that conclusion, so we decided to come early and make certain this would be an undisturbed meeting. Unfortunately, it appears that it will not be quite so quiet.”

“What? Why?”

The largest ‘bot tapped his ear to activate his radio link. “Bring them down now. Report back when complete.

“If you will wait for a few moments, I’ll show you.” The ‘bot cocked his head as if listening to something. “Very good. We’ll be there in a few,” he answered his radio link.

“Come with me,” he stated as he turned his back to him and led the way into the woods. After about twenty yards, they came to the first group of unmarked soldiers. “Do you know these guys?” he was asked.

Prowl shook his head. “No. Who are they?”

The ‘bot toed one over with his foot and saw the metallic glinting from his cybernetic hand and eye. 

“What is this?” he was dumbfounded.

“Just as I was afraid of,” the big ‘bot stated, the concern evident on his face.

Prowl knelt beside the soldiers and ran his forensic scanner over them. What was this? How could this be? Maybe he needed to have the darn thing recalibrated, because this could not be right.

“What it say?” the middle sized ‘bot asked.

“What it says doesn’t make any sense.

“It says they are biological life forms with Cybertronian signatures. And the particular Cybertronian signature belongs to Megatron.”

The smallest ‘bot started jumping around excitedly, [C“It’s them! They found her! I knew it! We have to move. Now! We have to hurry and slag this whole meeting, we don’t have time to waste!”C] he worried in his basic Cybertronian.

“Calm down Mike,” the largest ‘bot addressed the smallest.

“Soto,” the largest addressed the other ‘bot. “Contact the lair. Let them know we are sending them photos of unidentified soldiers. Consider us hot as of now.”

A small ‘bot Prowl hadn’t noticed before tapped on the hood of the jeep to get their attention. He saw him trying to wipe some sort of mud off a symbol painted along the side lip. The little ‘bot, Mike, quickly rushed to help. After a few seconds of rubbing, there was a simple number one inside a stylized “C.”

“Get a picture of this too,” the large ‘bot said.

“You might want to let your medic and leader know about this,” he said.

“As soon as you said there was an ambush being set up by soldiers, I contacted Optimus. He and the others are on their way. They should be here inside of twenty minutes,”

“I just hope the syrup lasts that long,” he said.

“So do I,” Prowl thought, even as he internally winced at the incorrect word.

VVVVVBREAKVVVVV

Optimus and his team had just arrived at the backup location when Prowl radioed him.

“Go ahead Prowl,” Optimus answered.

{C“Sir, there’s a problem here. We need to move up the meeting. How soon can you be at the coordinates?”C}

Optimus calculated through his GPS. “About twenty minutes.”

{C“Then try to be here sooner. And suggest you consider this a stop ‘n’ go hot run,C}” Prowl suggested. 

“Understood,” Optimus acknowledged.

{C“Change of plans,C}” he radioed his team as he started his engine. {C“We all move out. There seems to have been a problem at the meeting site.”C}

His team radioed their acknowledgments as they followed him to the coordinates.

VVVVVBREAKVVVVV

Clyde looked at the last of the human C-ones, as he decided to call them. They had been placed inside of the back of one of their vehicles to keep them all warm given the temperature. Each one was also bound hand and feet thanks to the spidrobot’s special weaving ability. Even with their Cybertronian limbs, it would take them a while to get out of those specially woven steel cords.

The spidrobots were perched in their favorite places on his person; Weaver on his right shoulder, Webber on his left and Webster on his helm. He sighed heavily about Webster, that ‘bot was a total clown. He just hoped he didn’t fall off his head and down his neck like he did last time. That tickled!

Carefully moving his head to try and not dislodge the ‘bot, he looked up when he heard the sounds of engines roaring closer.

The trooper, Prowl, as he learned, was leading a semi-tractor trailer and several other ‘bots up the fence line. He maintained his ‘bot form, as did his friends. No need to pretend now. When they approached, they each transformed out of respect for the trust being given.

“You are the one called Clyde,” the semi addressed him. 

“Yes. Are you the one called Optimus Prime?”

The semi, Optimus, nodded. “We regret we must meet under such unpleasant circumstances,” he said.

“Thank you,” Clyde answered. 

“I was hoping to be able to Corvette you a little better before I decided whether or not to take you to Ellie. But given these guys,” he motioned with his thumb back at the truck, “I don’t think there’s enough time.”

At the mention of the humans, Optimus looked over Clyde’s shoulder. “May I?” he asked.

Clyde nodded and Optimus went to look in the back of the truck. “Are these all of them?”

“We found three, four-man teams on thermals. Weaver,” he said motioning to his right shoulder, “just re-scouted the area in her remote control helicopter form. She didn’t find anything human in the immediate area. That isn’t to say there aren’t more backup teams near here waiting to take over for them though.”

“Agreed.

“Ratchet, do you want to take a look at these humans to make sure they are not in any distress?”

“Sure, Optimus.” Ratchet walked over and ran his medi-scan over each of the men.

“Um. These guys are all fine, I think.”

“You think?” clarified Optimus.

“Yes. They each have at least two cybernetic implants each. And they have the same Cybertronian signature.”

“Whose?” Optimus felt his spark sink.

“Megatron.”


	14. Chapter 13

CHAPTER THIRTEEN:

 

 

It must have been at least an hour since the attack that left him and his unit unconscious. Gunnery Sergeant Devon Young groggily awoke to a kink in his muscles as he realized he was tied up hog style.

 

Well, he thought, this shouldn’t be too big of a problem to get out of. He flexed his arms to try and break the bonds, and was rewarded by the sensation of them getting tighter.

 

What in the world? He had two cybernetic arms, he should be able to break anything they could possibly use to tie him up short of high gauge steel cables. These didn’t feel like any sort of steel restraints he had ever come across. What was happening?

 

He flexed again and felt the steel in his arms giving instead of the cables. Okay, so that wasn’t going to work.

 

“Hey! Anyone else awake yet?” he asked.

 

“Yeah. I woke up a few minutes ago. I can’t break these restraints, can you?” said Sergeant Oliver Goode.

 

“Negative. Can you see anyone else’s ties to try and determine what we’re dealing with?”

 

“Hold on,” he said as he heard him moving around.

 

“Okay, I see what seems to be holding us, but I have no idea what it is or how to get out of it.”

 

“What is it?” gunny wanted to know.

 

“Some sort of thin gauged, super strong cable.

 

“Can you get into the tool box and get a pair of wire cutters?”

 

“Negative. Can you radio team four that we’re in distress?”

 

“Negative. We’re still in a dead zone. Guess we’re just going to have to wait until someone closer to the tool box wakes up and can get the cutters or our relief gets here.

 

“Do you think she still needs our help?” asked the sergeant.

 

“Absolutely. God help her if those robot alien freaks get their hands on her first,” gunny voiced aloud.

 

VVVVVBREAKVVVVV

 

Optimus didn’t particularly like this trip. Even when he used a satellite connection, his radio link was spotty at best. Of course, according to Ratchet, that may very well have been what kept the girl alive so long.

 

“Transmitting vector to first coordinates,” Clyde notified them. “Be aware, missing these vectors by more than five degrees will fry even the most protected Cybertronian circuitry.”

 

The data burst came through and was quickly disseminated among the team. Optimus just hoped the last few members in the line were able to download it before they went through another dead zone. Even if they didn’t, Clyde informed him the other members of his team knew the coordinates and the dangers.

 

As they approached the first coordinates, his guide sent another vector and coordinates. He made the turn and noticed his trailer was just point five degrees off and felt a jolt of electricity through his chassis.

 

“Halt!” he called to his team.

 

Immediately, the entire procession stopped and Clyde and Ratchet each assumed their bipedal form to come back and check on him.

 

“What happened?” Ratchet asked.

 

“He wasn’t kidding when he warned about missing the vector. Think I hit a magnetic boundary with my trailer. It felt like an EMP burst through my rear chassis,” he related to his medic.

 

“Let me check,” he said as he hurried toward his leader’s rear axle.

 

After a few minutes, the medic returned. “I was able to keep your axles from freezing up, but I don’t know what happened inside your trailer. We’re just going to have to see about that when we get to wherever it is we’re going.”

 

“How much farther?” Optimus asked the guide.

 

“Three more turns and nine hundred fifteen feet total.

 

“This next turn is a one hundred sixty degree angle, but, it is also a larger pocket, so you have a little more wiggle room. When I give you these next coordinates, you will have a fifty-two yard pocket to work with. Just remember these coordinates are the exact center of the pocket.

 

“Now, are you alright to continue?”

 

“Yes. I think so. Let’s roll,” he answered.

 

They slowly made their way through the magnetic anomaly without any further incident. The chatter among the team, when Optimus paid attention, appeared to be of growing awe and respect for the girl’s ingenuity. How did she find this place? Was this magnetic wall a natural occurrence, or did she somehow manufacture it?

 

Finally, they were approaching what appeared to be a shallow cave at the base of a large hill. The topography of the region indicated the land feature was less than three hundred feet short of an official mountain. Standing at its entrance was a small ‘bot no more than six feet tall.

 

“Why that slag sucking aft residue!” Sideswipe said when he registered the greeter.

 

“Sideswipe! That’s hardly polite language about one of our hosts,” Optimus chastised.

 

“That’s the ‘bot that she was with Optimus. I’m sure of it.”

 

“Still, mind your manners. We are guests here.”

 

The procession slowly made their way into the shallow cave, hesitating briefly when Clyde, then Ratchet drove straight through the back and into a huge cavern easily one hundred feet high.

 

“That’s one kick ass hologram!” Hound exclaimed in his southern twang. “How did they get it to register as solid?”

 

“Perhaps she will enlighten you when she shows us how she saved Jazz and the others,” Hot Rod offered.

 

Once inside the cavern, Clyde transformed and stood aside to let the others do so as well.

 

“Is this everyone Clyde?” the greeter called.

 

“Yes. You can let the field up now.

 

“Optimus Prime, Autobots, welcome to the Lair,” he said with obvious pride.

 

“This is our receiving area,” he began to gesture. “To your right is the main work area and monitoring stations. The ‘bot at the entrance is Jukes. He’s Ellie’s personal protector and our taxi-cal advisor. I believe you all know Bonecrusher,” he indicated a bipedal form with tracks for feet that was coming from another chamber further in to turn into the main work area.

 

“I am Livewire,” said a spindly ‘bot no more than five feet tall following Bonecrusher. “I am Ellie’s physician. Now which of you is the medical officer?” he asked of the assembled group.

 

“That would be me,” indicated Ratchet.

 

“I must talk to you about our patient.

 

“Everyone else, Ellie is giving a briefing to the rest of the ‘bots in the arena you would be interested in. Clyde will show you where it is,” he said as he turned to the CMO.

 

A young female’s voice lured the team further into the next chamber. Toward the center, there was a large, metal structure that reminded Optimus of the pits where he once watched Megatron fight in his gladiatorial contests. “He is in the wheelchair . . .” she was saying as she deftly, with one hand, operated the laptop which controlled a holographic presentation in the center of the arena.

 

Optimus and the others stopped and watched the briefing as their sparks began to sink within their chests.

 

VVVVVBREAKVVVVV

 

He couldn't help it. He was a medic for Primus sake! Of course, he could blame it on the eons of war they were still fighting, but that was not really an excuse.

 

However, now that he'd done what had become first impulse to him, he was astounded. So much so that he was fighting his own system's threatened glitch.

 

Sparklings! He was surrounded by sparklings. Every last one of these “Elliebots,” was a sparkling. Not a one of them was even a vorn old! For so long they had been practically sterilized by the absence of the Allspark, and here he was surrounded by their most fragile and cherished.

 

Ratchet forced a vent out as he concentrated on leveling out his energy field to be more encouraging and welcoming to the newspark that he was following. He had to keep it in his processor that these sparklings might have a greater experience with human culture, given their sparking, but they were still infants in reality. Even if they didn't know it.

 

VVVVVBREAKVVVVV

 

“You are called Ratchet?” asked Livewire of the larger green ‘bot.

 

“I am.

 

“Tell me, why do you feel the need to pull me aside before I get the chance to see the patient?” he was curious.

 

“Jazz and the other Autobots, even some of the Decepticons, speak highly about your medical prowess. Since they have no known reason to lie to me, I must admit to you my failings.

 

“I was created as a physician with in-depth knowledge of human physiology. I can diagnose and treat most human maladies, including perform numerous kinds of surgeries, both intricate and common. However, the one area I am not well versed in is Cybertronian physiology. Unfortunately, that is the reason for your visit,” he said as he led the medic to his clinic.

 

Ratchet looked around at the space. It was small, but well lit; veins of quartz snaking throughout brought the daylight inside from every direction. He could see it was primarily designed to address human complaints instead of ‘bot sized issues. He could fit, but he doubted there’d be much room for anyone else, especially Optimus or any of the other larger mechs.

 

“Yes. I saw that blasted video,” Ratchet said as he literally shuddered. “There were several reasons the girl would be in dire straits. It was obvious that whoever tried to marry our technology to the human body did not know what they were doing.”

 

“Those were not the only surgeries performed on the girl. I was in the operating room for most and recorded every step. I decided not to divulge to her all aspects of every surgery given her age, especially some of the genetic testing and sampling performed. I have also been keeping a detailed account of her symptoms, both physical and psychological, as well as the treatments I performed.”

 

“I would like to see those if you don’t mind.”

 

Without a word, Livewire sent a large data burst to the larger ‘bot whose optics dimmed when he received and opened it.

 

“By the Allspark!” he exclaimed as he assimilated the data. “How is she still alive?”

 

“Ellie is one stubborn little human,” Livewire answered in a matter of fact way.

 

“Now, do you have any idea as to the source of some of these psychological symptoms?” he wanted to know.

 

“I can extrapolate some, most directly is her phobia of medical facilities.

 

“Her uncle kept her in a cell that resembled a hospital room. Now, even if I bring her in here for something as simple as an inoculation, she has a panic attack by the time I’m finished. I have found it easier on her to perform what procedures I can in her room.”

 

“May I see her room?” asked Ratchet. If he was going to have to do a good deal of his work here, he wanted to make sure it would suffice.

 

Livewire led the medic to the alcove off the main work room that had a sturdy curtain in front of it.

 

“This simply won’t do. We will need much more light if I am going to properly examine her and develop a treatment. Is there somewhere else we can use?”

 

“Perhaps the lab?” Livewire suggested as he led the way to another room on the same side as his clinic.

 

Ratchet looked in wonder at the large area. Like Livewire’s clinic, this area was shot through with veins of quartz that allowed the sunshine in. It was easily large enough to fit two ‘bots of Optimus stature laying prone, head to toe. It was also at least eighty feet high. What really clinched it was the generator sitting on the opposite side of the space. With that, he knew, he would be able to bring in any sort of equipment he could possibly need.

 

“This is perfect. What is it used for?” he asked as he curiously inspected a work table with several electrical components on it.

 

“The work table you are inspecting is where Ellie developed and builds her holo-preservers. The apparatus to the left is the matrix collector,” he said as he identified a machine that looked much like a giant microscope with a metal box where the slide table would be.

 

“For the most part, this is where Ellie does her research. She also built those machines along the other side of the wall for Que and Shockwave to help her with her research and perform their own,” Livewire added.

 

“She lets Shockwave and Que do their own work?” Ratchet asked incredulously.

 

“Of course. Her philosophy is that if they are made to feel like they’re a part of something, then they won’t be conspiring against her. That is also why she built the arena and brought in the television.”

 

“Shockwave is a mad scientist and Que is a total klutz!” Ratchet exclaimed, still trying to get over the fact the girl would trust her prisoners.

 

“Why do you think she has them here? She makes certain they don’t have access to anything dangerous.”

 

“But, isn’t she their captor?” he asked, still confused.

 

“Ellie? A captor?” Livewire asked in disbelief just before he burst out laughing.

 

“Seriously?

 

“No, she has absolutely no desire to take sides in any altercation except her own freedom. She views herself as a Florence Nightingale and the lair as neutral ground in your conflict,” the smaller medic explained in between chuckles.

 

“I have got to meet this child,” Ratchet declared.


	15. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just wanted to take the opportunity to thank all of my readers for stopping by and enjoying this latest chapter. As you will see, there are some "scientific" scenes in here that (probably) don't really seem all that sound. They most likely are not, but they sounded good to me when I originally wrote this story several years ago. So, please excuse the pseudo-science used in the interest of artisitc license.
> 
> As always, please review/comment and feel free to provide constructive criticism that can be use to improve the work. Just remember, "this sucks, you should take it down," is neither constructive nor objective and will lead me to believe the reviewer wants to plagerize the work/plot/concept for their own gain.
> 
> Tank you truly,
> 
> LGTracy

Legend: {i“Comm link communication.”i}

i“ _Internal thoughts or dialogue._ ”i

 

CHAPTER FOURTEEN:

 

Optimus and his Autobots watched the briefing from the entrance to the receiving chamber. They easily towered over the holographic images and had no trouble seeing into the arena.

 

{i“Well, that’s why we couldn’t get Jazz’s and the other’s bodies back,”i} Hot Rod said over their internal radio link.

 

{i“So it would appear,”i} he had to agree.

 

“I hope you’re wrong,” the girl was finishing as she stepped closer to the hologram of Soundwave.

 

If Optimus didn’t know any better, he would have sworn that he saw the spymaster flinch in an almost protective posture toward the girl.

 

“It makes sense child,” Optimus addressed the girl as he approached the arena.

 

She gasped as she looked up into his optics, retreating, again, toward Soundwave.

 

“Who are you?” she asked bravely from behind the spymaster's holographic form.

 

Soundwave and Shockwave flicked out of the arena and reappeared in blank spaces over their holo-preservers.

 

“I am Optimus Prime. Would you be Urielle Guardian?”

 

She visibly flinched. “I go by Ellie. Only my dad and grandmother ever called me ‘Urielle,’” she stated.

 

“Then may I call you Ellie as well?

 

“Tell me,” he began at her suspicious nod.

 

“Ironhide!” Ellie exclaimed happily when she saw his new form appear over the top of the arena.

 

Without a second thought, she ran up the closest steps and jumped into the waiting arms of the mech.

 

“Oh Ellie! My girl, I have worried about you. Let me look at you,” he said as he set her back on her feet and stepped back to look at her. “I do believe you have matured a bit,” he stated.

 

Her face blushed hotly as she looked curiously around at the rest of the newcomers. Remembering her manners, she stepped up to Ironhide’s frame and looped her good arm around his waist as she faced Optimus.

 

“I’m sorry. I was just so glad to see Ironhide that I interrupted you. You were saying?” she asked politely.

 

“Yes. Well, I was about to ask if you routinely briefed your prisoners on such potentially sensitive information,” he asked

 

“What prisoners?” she asked in honest bafflement.

 

“Are these beings not your prisoners?” he asked gesturing toward the holograms.

 

Ellie looked around in utter confusion. “I don’t have any prisoners. These guys are here because their bodies were destroyed somehow. I just brought them here with our technology and put them in these holo-preservers to save their lives. I had every intention of making new bodies for them, until I found out that it would cause them more harm than the preservers did.”

 

“How do you know about the harm it does to put them in other bodies?” a new mech wanted to know as he approached with Livewire.

 

“Trial and error.

 

“I discovered the hard way that each essence matrix is unique to the body it was housed in. You see their DNA is incompatible, and if you try and put them into another body, or a general body design, well, bad things start to happen. Not the least of which is grounding problems, personality blips and general lack of coordination,” she informed. “It’s kind of like trying to perform a brain transplant on a human. Not only are there too many connections to connect, but the brain-blood barrier would attack the alien brain.

 

“The only thing you can really do is have somewhat unique bodies for each matrix. That’s why I had to take Ironhide’s body with me for you to house him in. I was afraid that his real body might be too damaged to repair,” she finished.

 

Finally, a commotion behind the others involving Mike and another small ‘bot caught her attention; the new ‘bot looked like he was riding Mike and trying to keep him quiet. Mike, an unusually scrappy little fellow, was eventually able to flip the other off and ran toward her.

 

“Uncle Al!” he was screaming as he hurried toward her. “Uncle Al!” Then he dissolved into his chattering language.

 

“What does he mean, ‘Uncle Al’?” Ellie asked of Clyde.

 

“I’m sorry Ellie. We informed Jukes, but maybe he didn’t think it was really bad?”

 

“Bad in what way?” she demanded. “What happened?”

 

“We found three, four-man teams when we went to scout for the meeting. We were able to catch them, so it’s unthinking anyone will guess you’re near here.

 

“We were able to get pictures of them and of the patch on the vehicles they were driving,” he said as Weaver displayed the recording she took.

 

“Oh crap! Oh no, no, no,” she kept repeating.

 

“What is wrong?” asked Optimus Prime.

 

“That is the first numbered unit of my uncle’s private military. They’re his personal elite guard. Their primary focus is to find and return me,” she said as the color drained from her face.

 

VVVVVBREAKVVVVV

 

Bumblebee couldn’t stand to see the girl so upset. Before he even realized what he was doing, he plucked her from Ironhide’s side and lifted her to face him eye to optic. There was no radio signal within the lair, so he couldn’t splice together what he wanted her to know, and, of course, his vocal processors were out again, so he just looked at her.

 

i“ _I would rip my own spark from my chest and hand it to Unicron himself if that is what it would cost to keep you safe,_ ”i he thought. i“ _I know what it is like to feel alone and afraid and under a microscope, please, know you are safe with me. Please! Know I would die for you,_ ”i he begged from his spark.

 

Slowly, the color returned to her face and her heart began to slow to a more normal rhythm. She stared at the yellow ‘bot and just couldn’t look away. In that moment, something passed between them.

 

“They held you too,” it was a statement.

 

His optics closed briefly and he inclined his head.

 

In confusion she looked at Optimus Prime and asked him, “Why would he want to give Unicron his spark to save me?”

 

Bumblebee’s optics got large and reacted as if he had been hit in the face as he looked to his leader.

 

“I have no idea Ellie. Why would you ask me that?” Optimus was curious.

 

“Didn’t you hear him? That’s what he said before he asked me to trust him,” she answered in confusion as she began to rub at her left shoulder.

 

Optimus watched his scout who nodded emphatically before gently putting the girl down. “Perhaps, he feels a kinship with you and wants you to know how far he is willing to go,” he reasoned.

 

The fact the girl seemed able to hear his scout’s thoughts was also quite curious.

 

“Uncle Al!” Mike chattered as he tugged at her pant leg.

 

“Right,” Ellie said when she pulled her attention from the yellow ‘bot.

 

“Jazzy?” she asked of the image Hound held in his hand.

 

“Bumblebee, Sideswipe and Prowl,” he answered as he pointed to each in turn. They had been together so long he knew what she was asking.

 

Ellie nodded once then gathered herself together and started giving out orders. “I assume you are Ratchet?” she asked of the ‘bot beside Livewire. When he nodded, she continued, “You and Livewire can put Jazz and the girls back in their stop-gap bodies.

 

“Mike, I need you to relieve Jukes at the entrance. Report any communications to Bones and Jazzy.

 

“Clyde, Soto and Jukes will be on the defenses. Ironhide, you can coordinate them with whatever defenses you can come up with.

 

“Bumblebee, Sideswipe and Prowl, if your boss doesn’t mind, you can pair up with my guys,” she stated as she began to walk further into the cavern past the arena.

 

“I’m assuming the rest of you are somewhat curious as to what defenses have been set up. If so, you probably should follow me,” she called over her shoulder.

 

The assembled Autobots looked at each other, then Optimus in confusion.

 

"By all means,” he answered in amusement. It wasn’t often he didn’t have to be in charge of his troops. In fact, he even found it oddly comforting to be on the receiving end of orders for a change.

 

As a group, they quickly caught up to her as she made a right out of the chamber and began to ascend a large rock shelf.

 

“Since we are sitting smack dab in the middle of a magnetic anomaly,” she was saying when they caught up to her, “We were able to tap in to it and focus it to form an electromagnetic wave front that will fry anything, or anyone for that matter, with any electronic components.”

 

“How can you tap in to a magnetic field?” Hot Rod was curious.

 

“Lodestone. Besides granite, this entire hill is composed of lodestone as well. I just found a way to utilize its natural magnetic properties to shift the natural magnetic properties of the field in whatever way I need to, within reason, of course,” she answered honestly.

 

They approached a smaller chamber that had several paths leading off it.

 

“We are near the exact center of the top of the hill,” she started. The filtered sunlight from the ever present quartz veins made the area appear as if it was out in the open. “That path leads to position ten five,” she pointed. “This one leads to position six, and I’ll take you up to one five to show you how the apparatus works.”

 

Bumblebee gently placed a hand on her shoulder to get her attention. When she looked back at him, he cocked his head and seemed to be asking something, although no one could hear.

 

“It’s sort of like you’re looking at the face of a clock,” she answered as if he had asked his question aloud. “Position twelve is the entrance, position six is directly opposite and the rest are the numbers. One five is if you were half way between numbers one and two and ten five is half way between ten and eleven.

 

“Is that what you wanted to know?” she asked.

 

His optics got as large as they could get and he eagerly nodded. Bumblebee felt his circuits buzzing in joy. He didn’t know how it was happening, but this little girl could hear what he wanted to vocalize, but rarely could.

 

She led them up to the position. It looked like a large stone balcony with a small outcropping to the rear where the panel was. Large trees towered above the emplacement, effectively hiding it from both planes and satellites. Once there, they found Clyde already standing by a panel behind what appeared to be a concave shaped stone.

 

“Okay, um, Prowl, you can pair up with Clyde here.

 

“The controls are relatively easy to operate, kind of like a joystick for a video game. The large lever on the left of the base of the panel is the off – on switch, it provides an electric connection between the shocker and the field,” she indicated a wooden lever that could be operated with a ‘bot’s foot. “The lever to the right on the top of the panel adjusts height. The concave stone is, in fact, carved lodestone, so, whatever you do, don’t go in front of it. In fact, try not to go too close to it at all. It is the most powerful magnet on Earth,” she finished.

 

“What is the coverage area of each 'shocker'?” Ironhide wanted to know.

 

Ellie slipped a device over her left ear that looked much like a hearing aid with a small fiber optic wire sticking out from under her lobe. She flinched when it snapped in place and then paused for a second as if in thought.

 

The fiber optic began to flicker, then a holograph appeared in front of her about two feet wide. She showed the representation of the hill as if she was looking straight down at it and indicated the emplacements with red circles.

 

“As you can see, each shocker disc is nine foot in diameter. The area of coverage is nine foot right here, to over nine hundred feet by the time it reaches the field. By that time, it has overlapped the other two shocker fields by over eighty feet on each side when stationary.”

 

She turned off the hologram and quickly pulled it off her ear, flinching when it clicked free.

 

“When did you come up with that one?” Ironhide wanted to know.

 

“A couple weeks ago,” she confessed.

 

“It’s painful to use for you, isn’t it?”

 

She shrugged.

 

“So Clyde,” she addressed her friend who was busily showing the new ‘bot the controls.

 

“Yes?”

 

“Did Soto and Jukes take their usual positions?”

 

“Yes they did Ellie,” he confirmed as he eagerly turned back to Prowl.

 

“Okay then, Sideswipe, you go to position six and meet up with Soto. Bumblebee, I’ll take you to meet up with Jukes at ten five. I’m sure Ironhide and the rest of you would like to explore the rest of the paths leading off the junction. They all lead outside if that will help you figure out any other defenses,” she said as she led them back down into the chamber.

 

Without a word, Optimus followed her and his scout to the other position.

 

VVVVVBREAKVVVVV

 

Wheelie was bored. He didn't want to follow everyone up to the “defensive measures,” as the girl called them. The fact he couldn't keep up was totally irrelevant.

 

Defeated, not that he would ever admit it, he returned back to the landing just outside the room with the arena in it. He could go in and mess with the sparks there, he supposed, but the memory of Soundwave and Shockwave in the center of the pit, looking so . . . solid, gave him second thoughts.

 

He shook his head at the idea and then looked beyond the arena to the rooms beyond. He could go in there and explore, but he didn't think he made a very good first impression on the residents. That was out. Turning around, he looked back over the expanse that stretched out below the outcropping. Scanning the structures below him, he found himself intrigued by the multitude of valuable minerals and ores that his sensors revealed.

 

Maybe he could find something of use to the Autobots. Smiling to himself, he transformed and sped off in the direction of a rather large deposit of Cybertonium. The initial readings promised a very pure source of the potential scrap. After all, salvaging scrap was what he was created for.


	16. Chapter 15

CHAPTER FIFTEEN:

 

“Seriously, do I look like a damsel in distress?” Ellie was asking Optimus Prime on their way to the main chamber.

“Well, yes. You do appear to fit the part,” he answered with some amusement.

She seemed to be upset about Bumblebee picking her up at the defense position and shaking his finger at her. When he asked her what his soldier had said, she huffed out he was telling her he would care for her and she needed to let Ratchet look at her.

It was amazing. Every time the girl and his scout looked at each other, they seemed to just . . . click.

“Well I’m not. I just need some help right now,” she groused.

Optimus chuckled.

“So, Megatron calls you a librarian,” she changed the subject. “Is that true?”

Optimus was thoughtful as he looked at the girl. “To a certain extent.” He wondered what else his old friend had shared with the girl about their pre-war relationship.

“So, you like reading then, right?”

“Yes. Reading is a vital part of history,” he wondered where she was going with this line of questioning.

“Do you mind if we make a detour before we meet up with Livewire and your Ratchet?”

“What for?”

“Cause, there’s something my family has been waiting to give to you for generations. An’ I really would like to have it taken care of now while I still remember about it,” she informed him.

“Me?”

“Yeah. ‘Learn’ed prime from far away, granted the gift of family’s sway,’ I think is how it goes,” she quoted.

“How what goes?” he was curious.

“The nursery rhyme. My dad and grandma would always tell me the same ones over and over every night until they weren’t there to tell them anymore.”

“Yes. Perhaps we should take this detour,” something from this whole scenario was tickling at his processors. Something he once downloaded from the Cybernet, but archived so long ago, he was going to have a difficult time finding it.

He followed her down the main channel to the rock ledge just outside of the interior chamber. Just before it dove back in through the caves, there was what appeared to be a large outcropping looking out over a large cavern that was even bigger than Optimus could see entirely.

“Prime’s Vantage,” she told him.

She led him further on and once at the bottom of the ramp, turned right and walked out to another rock ramp that followed along at a descent to the ramp they had just come down.

Eventually, they got to the bottom where a small spring sourced a brook. Eventually, it lead to a large body of water over five hundred yards across.

“This is heavy water, so I can’t drink it or use it for anything more than experiments,” she told him.

They followed the edge of the heavy water pond. Quartz veins were present throughout this chamber as well, but seemed to be diffused by stalactites. It gave the whole scene a peaceful, almost surreal quality, Optimus thought.

“It’s peaceful here, but I’m gonna show you my favorite thinking place,” she informed him.

Eventually, they came to a place that looked like it had been a fork in the path, the straight fork collapsed, leaving a path across a stone bridge. He noticed that he could have easily traversed the entire path so far in his alt mode and filed the information away for future use.

He followed his human companion over the bridge, identifying the sound of a waterfall beneath them. She barely seemed to notice and started picking up her pace as she made her way toward another spot on the other side of the pond.

When they arrived at her final destination, he stood and looked in awe at a magnificent waterfall. The light filtering in from the quartz created rainbows that danced in front of his optics. It was a beautiful, awe inspiring sight.

“Come on,” she motioned to him as she disappeared up a path that led behind the waterfall.

As he followed her, he realized he wasn’t even wet, then turned the corner and stopped.

Like many waterfalls, this one also had a large cave carved out behind it. That was where the similarities stopped. This one appeared to have been carved out by hand, given the smoothness of the walls. He saw a flash of light from the girl as she lit a match and threw it into a shallow trench on either side of the cave. The fire sprung to life and he detected the scent of oil, so he knew it would provide a good deal of heat after a while as well.

“Go ahead,” she encouraged. “This is what my family has been waiting to give you forever.”

As if he was being pulled by an invisible string, he stepped across the Cybertronian sized bridge and began to visually scan the space. That was when he found it had been engraved with writing, ancient Cybertronian writing.

VVVVVBREAKVVVVV

“How does she do this?” Ratchet asked in stunned awe as he glanced at the image of his longtime friend and colleague.

“She once showed me the schematics of these holo-preservers. It is such a simple, ingenious design that it's almost artistic,” Que answered from his spot in the lab work station dock.

“Can you hold that bundle out of the way?” the medic requested as he soldered another electronic chip in place in Arcee's body.

Que grunted in reply as he manipulated the arms into position.

“I'm going to bet that the simplicity was as much out of necessity as it was ingenuity. That left arm of hers is total slag. She would have needed both of her hands functioning if she were to even attempt anything more delicate.

“There you go, Arcee,” he addressed the femme after turning her on and allowing her to boot up. “These frames are incapable of handling any sort of mounted fire power, but I was able to install comm links in all of you. Unfortunately, it only has a range of about two-hundred miles, and that would be if you were out of this magnetic anomaly we find ourselves in.”

“Thanks Ratchet,” she addressed the medic. “Is it mounted to the frame or the preserver?”

“Frame. The preservers don't actually have the energy reserves necessary to power it. As it is with the link, I had to run it off the back-up battery reserves just to make it operational.”

“Have you had the chance to examine Ellie yet?” she continued as she went through a few maneuvers to check the connections in her frame.

“Not yet. She is still with the others to work on the lair's defenses. Is there something of particular concern to you?”

“I don't want to lose her Ratchet. She's a good sparkling, but the nightmares are relentless and seem to be getting worse as time wears on, not to mention she seems to be having issues with recall. I'm worried what was done to her may be shorting out her processors.”

“I'll do all I can to repair her Arcee. You have my word.”

“Where do you want Chromia?” Livewire asked as he entered the lab with the gun-happy femme.

“Over here. I'm releasing Arcee.”

With a backward look toward the medic, Arcee rolled out of the lab. She'd take over for Jazz on the monitors; she knew there was one mech he hadn't had the chance to catch up with.

VVVVVBREAKVVVVV

The sound of a small, electric motor coming up the ramp behind him had his black and white door wings twitching minutely. 

“Hey guys?” Jazz called as he came toward the control panel and stopped just behind a stone outcropping.

“Jazz? Is that you?” Prowl asked in honest curiosity. This was the first time he had seen Jazz's temp-frame.

“Yeah. How d'ya like it?” the saboteur asked his long time partner.

“It will take some time to get used to it,” the tactition replied as he turned back to the panel.

“You two go ahead and talk,” Ironhide told the pair as he took up a position next to Clyde. “I want to get a handle on what I'm working with here. Besides, Prowl, I'm sure you have a lot of questions for Jazz. 

“Of all of us Cybertron sparked, he and Bonecrusher are the ones who know Ellie the best; they've been with her the longest.”

Prowl inclined his wings in a grateful dip before turning to the newly returned saboteur.

After waiting a few clicks for the pair to leave audial range, the weapons mech answered the unasked question the Earth sparked youngling was radiating; “Prowl is our tactition. He needs to learn as much as he can about his potential allies and enemies.

“Besides, those two are . . . close. They need the time to reconnect.”

“'Close,' as in a couple?” Clyde asked perceptively.

“You caught that, huh?”

“Jazz talked about him goodly when we were still on our own. Prowl also seems to de-ice when Jazz is around.”

“'De-ice' is probably the best term to use for that Praxian's outward reaction. It's barely perceptible unless you know what you're looking for.”

Clyde grinned as he turned back to the control panel. “So, you want to try your hand at this? You know, get a feel for it?”

“Step aside Scraplet! I'll show you about getting a 'feel' for a magnetic-pulse battery; I've been handling weapons in one form or another since before humans had clubs!”

VVVVVBREAKVVVVV

Jazz led the way out of the lodestone placement and down the ramp as quickly as his new frame could go. To Prowl, it was probably little more than a dawdling stroll. They walked in silence as each tried to get their own processors in order as to what they wanted to say first. At the bottom of the ramp, Jazz turned around to continue into the lower part of the lair. Instead of following the flowing heavy-water, they turned left and approached a large stone structure.

The Praxian could not keep the rigid surprise out of his door wings when they stopped in front of a large stalagmite that shimmered in iridescent rainbows that seemed to react to his very emotion. The shape and colors reminding him for a moment of the Crystal Gardens of his lost city-state.

“Yes, it does react to the electromagnetic field of anyone who passes near,” Jazz answered the unasked question. “I haven't been able to figure out, yet, how to decipher the different colors.”

The saboteur entered the structure through a cleverly disguised opening, glancing back once to make sure his companion was following. Hesitating briefly, Prowl followed the mech inside and stopped short. Instinctively, his door wings shot up and out to gather as much data as they possibly could. Without conscious thought, he maneuvered into the center of the room and stood still to allow the different tones emitted by the embedded crystals to swamp his processors. It took him nearly 20 minutes to regain his senses and push the lulling harmonies of the crystals into the background.

“This place . . .” he couldn't finish.

“Is beautiful. It reminds me of the Gardens.”

“How . . .?”

“Don' know. All of these structures appear to be buildings. They were here when we got here. Of course, most of 'em are kinda run-down inside, but from what we can tell, they seem to be sound.”

“Buildings? Here? Of our size? How is that even possible?” he could feel the crash starting to build.

“I know, ain't logical. Unless some group of Cybertronians settled here millenia ago, which is possible if the appearance of Fallen a few years ago is taken into account, then the only other option would be humans.”

“Humans would have no need for buildings of this size. The most logical conclusion is Cybertronian in nature.” Prowl ex-vented in relief as the loop was aborted and the crash averted.”

“Better?”

“Yes. Thank you.

“Do you still feel the bond?”

Jazz stilled for a moment at the abruptness of the change in topic. 

“Somewhat,” he answered honestly. “In my spark, it's there and I can feel it, but it's like I can't get at it.”

“It is most likely because you are separated from your frame. I highly doubt the femmeling would have the knowledge, resources or physical ability to create one that could completely hold a charge necessary to support a bond-bridge. It is also affecting my end of the bond as well. I can feel it, but it is muted to me as well.”

“We'll get it back Prowler. I promise.”

“Tell me what happened,” Prowl demanded as he took a seat on a conveniently placed pillar.

“From?”

“The last time we saw each other.”

“You might want to get comfy. This is gonna take awhile.”

“I have the rest of my function for you, Jazz.”


	17. Chapter 16

CHAPTER SIXTEEN:

 

“Seriously, do I look like a damsel in distress?” Ellie was asking Optimus Prime on their way to the main chamber.

“Well, yes. You do appear to fit the part,” he answered with some amusement.

She seemed to be upset about Bumblebee picking her up at the defense position and shaking his finger at her. When he asked her what his soldier had said, she huffed out he was telling her he would care for her and she needed to let Ratchet look at her.

It was amazing. Every time the girl and his scout looked at each other, they seemed to just . . . click.

“Well I’m not. I just need some help right now,” she groused.

Optimus chuckled.

“So, Megatron calls you a librarian,” she changed the subject. “Is that true?”

Optimus was thoughtful as he looked at the girl. “To a certain extent.” He wondered what else his old friend had shared with the girl about their pre-war relationship.

“So, you like reading then, right?”

“Yes. Reading is a vital part of history,” he wondered where she was going with this line of questioning.

“Do you mind if we make a detour before we meet up with Livewire and your Ratchet?”

“What for?”

“Cause, there’s something my family has been waiting to give to you for generations. An’ I really would like to have it taken care of now while I still remember about it,” she informed him.

“Me?”

“Yeah. ‘Learn’ed prime from far away, granted the gift of family’s sway,’ I think is how it goes,” she quoted.

“How what goes?” he was curious.

“The nursery rhyme. My dad and grandma would always tell me the same ones over and over every night until they weren’t there to tell them anymore.”

“Yes. Perhaps we should take this detour,” something from this whole scenario was tickling at his processors. Something he once downloaded from the Cybernet, but archived so long ago, he was going to have a difficult time finding it.

He followed her down the main channel to the rock ledge just outside of the interior chamber. Just before it dove back in through the caves, there was what appeared to be a large outcropping looking out over a large cavern that was even bigger than Optimus could see entirely.

“Prime’s Vantage,” she told him.

She led him further on and once to the bottom of the ramp, turned right and walked out to another rock ramp that followed along at a descent to the ramp they had just come down.

Eventually, they got to the bottom where a small spring sourced a brook. Eventually, it lead to a large body of water over five hundred yards across.

“This is heavy water, so I can’t drink it or use it for anything more than experiments,” she told him.

They followed the edge of the heavy water pond. Quartz veins were present throughout this chamber as well, but seemed to be diffused by stalactites. It gave the whole scene a peaceful, almost surreal quality, Optimus thought.

“It’s peaceful here, but I’m gonna show you my favorite thinking place,” she informed him.

Eventually, they came to a place that looked like it had been a fork in the path, the straight fork collapsed, leaving a path across a stone bridge. He noticed that he could have easily traversed the entire path so far in his alt mode and filed the information away for future use.

He followed his human companion over the bridge, identifying the sound of a waterfall beneath them. She barely seemed to notice and started picking up her pace as she made her way toward another spot on the other side of the pond.

When they arrived at her final destination, he stood and looked in awe at a magnificent waterfall. The light filtering in from the quartz created rainbows that danced in front of his optics. It was a beautiful, awe inspiring sight.

“Come on,” she motioned to him as she disappeared up a path that led behind.

As he followed her, he realized he wasn’t even wet, then turned the corner and stopped.

Like many waterfalls, this one also had a large cave carved out behind it. That was where the similarities stopped. This one appeared to have been carved out by hand, given the smoothness of the walls. He saw a flash of light from the girl as she lit a match and threw it into a trench surrounding the interior of the cave. The fire sprung to life and he detected the scent of oil, so he knew it would provide a good deal of heat after a while as well.

“Go ahead,” she encouraged. “This is what my family has been waiting to give you forever.”

As if he was being pulled by an invisible string, he stepped across the Cybertronian sized bridge and began to visually scan the space. That was when he found it had been engraved with writing, ancient Cybertronian writing.

VVVVVBREAKVVVVV

“How does she do this?” Ratchet asked in stunned awe as he glanced at the image of his longtime friend and colleague.

“She once showed me the schematics of these holo-preservers. It is such a simple, ingenious design, it's almost artistic,” Que answered from his spot in the lab work station dock.

“Can you hold that bundle out of the way?” the medic requested as he soldered another electronic chip in place in Arcee's body.

Que grunted in reply as he manipulated the arms into position.

“I'm going to bet that the simplicity was as much out of necessity as it was ingenuity. That left arm of hers is total slag. She would have needed both of her hands functioning if she were to even attempt anything more delicate.

“There you go, Arcee,” he addressed the femme after turning her on and allowing her to boot up. “These frames are incapable of handling any sort of mounted fire power, but I was able to install comm links in all of you. Unfortunately, it only has a range of about two-hundred miles, and that would be if you were out of this magnetic anomaly we find ourselves in.”

“Thanks Ratchet,” she addressed the medic. “Was it mounted to the frame or the preserver?”

“Frame. The preservers don't actually have the energy reserves necessary to power it. As it is with the link, I had to run it off the back-up battery reserves just to make it operational.”

“Have you had the chance to examine Ellie yet?” she continued as she went through a few maneuvers to check the connections in her frame.

“Not yet. She is still with the others to work on the lair's defenses. Is there something of particular concern to you?”

“I don't want to lose her Ratchet. She's a good sparkling, but the nightmares are relentless and seem to be getting worse as time wears on, not to mention she seems to be having issues with recall. I'm worried what was done to her may be shorting out her processors.”

“I'll do all I can to repair her Arcee. You have my word.”

“Where do you want Chromia?” Livewire asked as he entered the lab with the gun-happy femme.

“Over here. I'm releasing Arcee.”

With a backward look toward the medic, Arcee rolled out of the lab. She'd take over for Jazz on the monitors; she knew there was one mech he hadn't had the chance to catch up with.

VVVVVBREAKVVVVV

The sound of a small, electric motor coming up the ramp behind him had his black and white door wings twitching minutely. 

“Hey guys?” Jazz called as he came toward the control panel and stopped just behind a stone outcropping.

“Jazz? Is that you?” Prowl asked in honest curiosity. This was the first time he had seen Jazz's temp-frame.

“Yeah. How d'ya like it?” the saboteur asked his long time partner.

“It will take some time to get used to it,” the tactition replied as he turned back to the panel.

“You two go ahead and talk,” Ironhide told the pair as he took up a position next to Clyde. “I want to get a handle on what I'm working with here. Besides, Prowl, I'm sure you have a lot of questions for Jazz. 

“Of all of us Cybertron sparked, he and Bonecrusher are the ones who know Ellie the best; they've been with her the longest.”

Prowl inclined his wings in a grateful dip before turning to the newly returned saboteur.

After waiting a few clicks for the pair to leave audial range, the weapons mech answered the unasked question the Earth sparked youngling was radiating; “Prowl is our tactition. He needs to learn as much as he can about his potential allies and enemies.

“Besides, those two are . . . close. They need the time to reconnect.”

“'Close,' as in a couple?” Clyde asked perceptively.

“You caught that, huh?”

“Jazz talked about him fondly when we were still on our own. Prowl also seemed to thaw when Jazz was around.”

“'Thaw' is probably the best term to use for that Praxian's outward reaction. It's barely perceptible unless you know what you're looking for.”

Clyde grinned as he turned back to the control panel. “So, you want to try your hand at this? You know, get a feel for it?”

“Step aside Scraplet! I'll show you about getting a 'feel' for a magnetic-pulse battery; I've been handling weapons of one form or another since before humans had clubs!”

VVVVVBREAKVVVVV

Jazz led the way out of the lodestone placement and down the ramp as quickly as his new frame could go. To Prowl, it was probably little more than a dawdling stroll. They walked in silence as each tried to get their own processors in order as to what they wanted to say first. At the bottom of the ramp, Jazz turned around to continue into the lower part of the lair. Instead of following the flowing heavy-water, they turned left and approached a large stone structure.

The Praxian could not keep the rigid surprise out of his door wings when they stopped in front of a large stalagmite that shimmered in iridescent rainbows that seemed to react to his very emotion. The shape and colors reminding him for a moment of the Crystal Gardens of his lost city-state.

“Yes, it does react to the electromagnetic field of anyone who passes near,” Jazz answered the unasked question. “I haven't been able to figure out, yet, how to decipher the different colors.”

The saboteur entered the structure through a cleverly disguised opening, glancing back once to make sure his companion was following. Hesitating briefly, Prowl followed the mech inside and stopped short. Instinctively, his door wings shot up and out to gather as much data as they possibly could. Without conscious thought, he maneuvered into the center of the room and stood still to allow the different tones emitted by the embedded crystals to swamp his processors. It took him nearly 20 minutes to regain his senses and push the lulling harmonies of the crystals into the background.

“This place . . .” he couldn't finish.

“Is beautiful. It reminds me of the Gardens.”

“How . . .?”

“Don' know. All of these structures appear to be buildings. They were here when we got here. Of course, most of 'em are kinda run-down inside, but from what we can tell, they seem to be sound.”

“Buildings? Here? Of our size? How is that even possible?” he could feel the crash starting to build.

“I know, ain't logical. Unless some group of Cybertronians settled here millenia ago, which is possible if the appearance of Fallen a few years ago is taken into account, then the only other option would be humans.”

“Humans would have no need for buildings of this size. The most logical conclusion is Cybertronian in nature.” Prowl ex-vented in relief as the loop was aborted and the crash averted.”

“Better?”

“Yes. Thank you.

“Do you still feel the bond?”

Jazz stilled for a moment at the abruptness of the change in topic. 

“Somewhat,” he answered honestly. “In my spark, it's there and I can feel it, but it's like I can't get at it.”

“It is most likely because you are separated from your frame. I highly doubt the femmeling would have the knowledge, resources or physical ability to create one that could completely hold a charge necessary to support a bond-bridge. It is also affecting my end of the bond as well. I can feel it, but it is muted to me as well.”

“We'll get it back Prowler. I promise.”

“Tell me what happened,” Prowl demanded as he took a seat on a conveniently placed pillar.

“From?”

“The last time we saw each other.”

“You might want to get comfy. This is gonna take awhile.”

“I have the rest of my function for you, Jazz.”


	18. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey folks!
> 
> So, this is my un-re-beta'd version of Chapter 17. As with some of these chapters, it does have extra content. Hope you enjoy and feel free to leave me a review so I know if it needs additional tweaking.
> 
> As always, Thanks for reading!
> 
> Sincerely,
> 
> LGTracy

Chapter Seventeen:

Wheelie put the last scrap of ore into its proper pile and stood back to survey the results. Four different piles of vital metals, varying in size from just a few scraps to a pile almost as large as himself, surrounded him. They were sitting next to a sizable source of Cybertonium embedded into a rock wall that he did not have either the tools or mass to remove. 

“We're gonna need that 'tonium if we're ever gonna have any hope of gettin' the guys back into their bodies,” he thought aloud.

“Bet Roddy'd be willin' to help me get it out!”

Pleased with his stroke of genius, if he did say so himself, he grabbed the few scraps of uranium he had found and transformed down into his alt-mode to race off to find the wrecker.

VVVVVBREAKVVVVV

“Hey Hatchet!” Hot Rod yelled through the main receiving area.

“I swear, I'm not answering when he calls me that,” the medic grumbled from the child's designated lab.

The speedster followed the sound of the irritated voice to see the Humvee watching Chromia perform a series of maneuvers to test out her connections.

“Hey Chromia! Looking good,” he flirted with the saucy femme.

“Ha! You should try saying that when I have my real body,” she shot back with a wink.

“What did you need Hot Rod?” Ratchet asked in annoyance.

“Do you have a spare plate cutter I can borrow? Or a plasma knife? The laser scalpel I was using to open Prime's trailer didn't even scratch the paint and the lock is fried from the anomaly.”

“Hm, I have a plasma knife you could use, but a circuit jumper might be better.”

“What's a circuit jumper?” Chromia asked in curiosity as she finished her maneuvers.

“It's a device that is used to bridge over damaged sections of circuitry,” Hot Rod answered, “but I am curious as to how you would know about it. To my knowledge, they were developed to help emergency response teams and enforcers override locks in certain cases.”

“Smaller ones are used in medical practices to jump over damaged or undesirable programs until the section is healed or self-written out. They're designed to be temporary and will be absorbed by the body's own self-repair nanites when their function is completed.”

“Well, do you have any of them?”

“Yes, here you go,” the medic said as he handed over a small bottle with what appeared to be a socket on one end.

“Thanks doc.

“So Chromia, feel like giving me the grand tour? Clyde just covered the basics and I'm curious about these 'plasma baths' he was talking about.”

“Sure,” Chromia readily agreed, “as soon as Ratchet has cleared me?”

“You're cleared for the limited duty your temp-frame can perform,” the green mech agreed just before turning toward the approaching figures of Elita-one and Livewire. “Now, GET OUT OF MY MED-BAY!”

“We're going!” both figures raised their hands in surrender as they beat a hasty retreat into the hall.

“Hey Roddy!” Wheelie called as he turned the corner into the hall and plowed into the candy-apple red pede in his way.

He transformed and stared up at the very mech he was hunting for with a look of confusion on his faceplates.

“What is it Wheels?”

“Was wonderin' if ya could help me get some scrap outta the wall where it's stuck? Whenever you can, no rush,” he hastened to add when he noticed the femme chuckling at him.

“Sure, no problem, but it'll have to wait. Chromia has volunteered to give me a tour of this lair.”

“Would you like to join us Wheelie? It will save time for all of us,” the femme eagerly offered.

“Absolutely, my be-weaponed queen,” the small bot replied with a smile. 

“Just let me drop this uranium off for Ratchet.”

“Uranium!” Chromia cried out in shock.

“Quick! Get rid of it! Put it in a shielded container; the radiation is harmful to humans!”

“Relax, sharp-shooter. This is 238, it isn't harmful to organic life forms. It can be used to make other materials that are vital to Cybertronian systems, many of which we are sorely lackin' in our stores at the moment.

“Just lemme get this to Ratchet, then I'll get back to you for that . . . personal tour.”

“Such a flirt,” Chromia chuckled as the small 'mech rushed away with a wiggle of his optic ridges.

“Such a pain in the aft,” muttered Hot Rod. 

VVVVVBREAKVVVVV

Optimus stood and stared at the writings. Many of the symbols had not been seen in generations, and the few he could translate made little sense.

“There are grates made of different metals that go over the fire. When you put them across, it changes the color of the light and different writing comes out,” she explained.

Mutely, he nodded. He stood in the very center of the cavern, easily one hundred feet high at the apex, and proceeded to download the entire space into his memory banks. This was something he was going to need time to work on.

“Where are those grates you were talking about?” he asked the girl distractedly.

“Right here,” she pointed along the burning trenches. 

Without asking for help, she reached down with her cybernetic arm, and slowly grasped the metal, then, bracing herself, used her legs and arm to lift the heavy piece across the flames. Slowly, as if it took a great deal of thought, she released the grate and stood back up, with her arm on fire.

“Ellie! You’re on fire!” he exclaimed as he grabbed her and shoved her through the waterfall.

“Stop! I’m fine. Let me go! Please, I’m getting wet,” she started yelling.

After making certain the child was no longer smoldering, he pulled her out of the waterfall and looked at her with a great deal of concern.

She glowered up at him through her sopping hair and blew the water out of her mouth. With her good hand, she pulled the hair away from her biological eye and glared at him accusingly. He made her lose her favorite sunglasses!

“What was that for?” she asked with some amount of indignation.

“You were on fire. Is it not logical to drown fire?” he asked in confusion.

“You drown the fire, not the person!” she declared.

“You did not drown.”

“Not for a lack of trying! 

“Really, I was fine; it was just my cybernetic arm. It’s not like it hurts or anything.”

“Still, the fire could have spread to your torso. I need to take you to Ratchet and have him make sure there was no other damage.”

“But what about the writings?” she asked stubbornly.

“With your permission, I would like to come back here at a later time and study them much more carefully.”

“I guess,” she huffed.

“Let me show you how to put out the fire so you don’t waste all the kerosene,” she said as she began to wiggle to be let down.

“It does not require you catching yourself on fire again, does it?”

“Of course not.

“See those curb looking pieces on this side of the trenches? Well, you just toe them over. They’re on a swivel,” she pointed, giving up the idea of being released.

He did as she instructed and marveled at the ease with which they moved. She must come here often, he thought.

He scanned the writings in much more detail as he extinguished the flames, making certain they didn’t change depending on the angle.

VVVVVBREAKVVVVV

Optimus drove from the cave to the caverns used as her base in his alt form, his heaters running on high to try and dry the girl. He noticed she seemed to be excited as she looked around from his passenger’s seat. He asked her about it.

“Yeah, well I’ve never been this high up before,” she answered honestly. “It makes some of the things I see as humongous not seem so big anymore.”

“Yes, sometimes a change in perspective can change one’s viewpoint,” he affirmed.

“So, I take it you and Megs knew each other before the war. Did you ever get to meet her?” she asked to change the subject.

“Her who?” he asked. Sometimes, he found the train of thought of this particular child quite illogical.

“Well, maybe I shouldn’t have said anything. He told me about her last night when he thought I was sleeping. I just know that she died before he was even a gladiator.”

“I did not meet Megatron, if that is who you meant, until after he was a gladiator. So I most likely never met anyone he knew before then.”

“Too bad. From the way he was talking about her, I think he’s still grieving for her.

“By the way, what are seeding cycles?”

Optimus stalled out as he missed a gear and swerved in surprise at the question. “What? Where in the universe did you ever hear about that subject?” he sputtered.

“Megs told me last night. Like I said, I think he thought I was asleep.”

“Um, well, that has to do with Cybertronian biology. It is truly not a subject you need to concern yourself about,” he tried to divert her.

“So, you’re uncomfortable talking about it and I probably should ask your Ratchet, in other words. Right?” she confirmed with far too much wisdom for her age.

“Not that he is my Ratchet, but yes, he would be the best one to answer that particular question,” he answered.

As Optimus started up again and rounded the bend toward the arena, he was met by the sound of Hot Rod and Wheelie laughing.

VVVVVBREAKVVVVV

Megatron was standing on the recharge table in his plush form when the wrecker and turncoat drone walked in following the femme, Chromia.

“. . . and this is where we put the occupied holo-preservers to recharge,” she was saying as she led the pair in.

“What’s the teddy bear doing on the recharge table?” Wheelie wanted to know.

“Because he needs to recharge too,” she replied.

“Wait a second, you mean that’s a ‘bot?” he asked in disbelief.

“Yes. That happens to be Megatron,” she confirmed.

“This,” Hot Rod asked as he picked him up,” is Megatron?”

“Yes, you miserable piece of slag, I am Megatron! Release me at once,” he ordered.

Hot Rod dropped Megatron back onto the table and began to laugh. 

Wheelie, still in a state of shock, started to chuckle at Hot Rod’s laughter. Then, as the enormity of what was happening began to sink in, he started to roar in mirth.

“Megatron!” he pointed and laughed even harder.

“Sheesh! Makes me wish they had lungs so they would stop already,” Chromia muttered. She was familiar with Megatron’s state and didn’t find it all that amusing. After all, she really didn’t want to be in the body of a plush toy herself.

“What’s going on here?” Ellie asked in confusion as she watched the two writhing around on the floor.

“Hot Rod. Wheelie. What is so funny?” Optimus asked in his most authoritative voice.

Helplessly, they pointed to the recharge table and started laughing all over again.

“Ellie, what is the toy doing among all of those life saving devices?” he asked in curiosity. He had noticed it tethered to a docking port during the briefing, and was going to ask, before he got sidetracked.

“Intimidation,” she answered simply.

“How would a stuffed toy intimidate anyone?”

“‘Cause any of these guys give me too many problems for too long will get put into the body of a stuffed animal,” she answered.

“That would be a humbling experience,” he allowed.

“It seems to be working among the rest since I put Megatron in it,” she confessed.

He looked at the small girl, then at the toy and back again and began to laugh.

VVVVVBREAKVVVVV

“What is that noise?” Livewire was curious as he led Ratchet back from the lab.

“It almost sounds like laughter,” the medic replied.

When they got to the main work area, they saw Hot Rod and Wheelie sprawled out on the floor in fits of laughter, and Optimus Prime holding on to the wall of the cave as he laughed heartily.

Near Optimus, the girl began to look uncomfortable as she dripped water where she was standing in a ruined, hooded sweatshirt.

“What happened to you?” Livewire demanded as he rushed to her.

“He tried to drown me,” she said defiantly and pointed at the prime.

“He did what?” Ratchet roared.

Hastily, Optimus regained his composure. Hot Rod and Wheelie became equally silent as they took in the sight of the girl.

“She was on fire,” he began.

“She was what?” Ratchet roared at her.

“It’s not like it never happened before,” she started.

“What do you mean by that?” he demanded.

Heaving a long suffering sigh, she began, “Simple, when I was still with my uncle, he would catch my arm and legs on fire to measure any damage it did. Every time they replaced them, they did the same test.”

The silence that met her matter of fact admission was almost deafening. Even the sparks on the table were silent as they assessed the latest information the girl related.

Becoming self-conscious at all of the attention, she hedged toward Livewire and ducked her head.

“Enough,” the small medi-tech admonished as he put an arm around her shoulders. 

“My scans indicate that this is heavy water you were immersed in. You need a bath to get it off and to warm you up. You’re internal body temperature is four degrees below normal, not to mention your lips are turning blue.

“Ratchet, would you kindly take her to the bathing chamber and wash her? She will show you where it is,” he ordered.

“Livewire!” she gasped, scandalized.

“He is a medical professional. It will be okay, I promise you.

“I will take care of Megatron and Elita One will bring you a change of clothes. Go along now.”

She looked at him as if she were going to argue, then slumped her shoulders and trudged off.

VVVVVBREAKVVVVV

The small human child muttered about being made to get naked in front of a total stranger as she led Ratchet through the main work room and to the right. They went through another corridor that ascended and passed several other branches before they came to the end of the path.

Like a great deal of the other caverns in this lair, as she called it, this too was shot through with quartz veins and just as bright. He briefly scanned the interior and memorized the layout; an extension cord snaked up the path to end near the entrance. To the right was a large ledge that was in front of an opening with steam rising up from what appeared to be another cavern below them. As the steam condensed on the roof of the lower chamber, it ran down a sloped roof to fall in a large pool of water. The pool fed a smaller basin and a small stream of water that drained into another hole over which a toilet seat had been placed.

Finding the amenities acceptable, he turned his attention back to the girl. He had noticed her cybernetic limbs were too small for her, if her biologic limb was to be the standard for growth. Her left arm was oriented a bit awkwardly, as if she were throwing it back and the fifth digit jumped spasmodically, indicating a feedback loop in the fine motor processors. He had made a note of how slowly it responded to her control when she used it. A quick scan revealed shoddy craftsmanship. It would simply have to be replaced.

“Do you need help to get undressed?” Ratchet asked in professional courtesy.

She looked at him thoughtfully. “You are a doctor type, right?” she asked again.

“Yes, although I was technically a medic before the war. I’ve had to become a bit adept at a wider range of medical knowledge since then.

“Now, I would like to help you get undressed so that I can examine you much more quickly and efficiently, if I may,” he asked.

She shrugged after further studying him and pulled the zipper down of her hooded sweat shirt.

Quickly and professionally, Ratchet helped the girl disrobe and put her into the pool. Seeing the bathing supplies she failed to remove after her last bath, he grabbed a net sponge and squeezed a bit of soap on it. Working it into a lather, he chastely cleansed the girl from the neck down.

“So how do you get these supplies?” he asked to get her to relax.

“Jukes can dress like a human. So, he does most of my shopping for me.”

“What is on the other side of the wall behind you?”

“I call it the sauna chamber. It’s too hot for me to go into, but Jukes, Mike, Livewire, Bones, Jazzy, the girls and the spidrobots use it. They say they feel so much better when they’re done.

“There’s another chamber below that one that’s even hotter yet. Clyde and Soto use it. They call it a plasma bath.”

Snagging the shampoo next, he had her lean back to both rinse the soap from her body and get her head wet.

He noted the unusual birthmark that seemed to be a gray color instead of a more typical red. There was also a strange scar on her back located at vertebra tee-five. He would have to examine that one a little more closely; it appeared to have something under it. 

 

When he finally moved the hair out of her face, he paused. She had a cybernetic optic, which he was prepared for, but what he didn’t count on was the eyelid appeared to have been surgically removed and the optic had a steady red glow.

“Can you offline your optic Ellie?” he asked her, using her name for the first time.

“Offline? If you mean turn it off, then no. That’s one of the reasons I have to wear dark glasses; it’s on all the time and makes people uncomfortable when I can’t even blink over it. The other reason is ‘cause all the light gives me a headache.

“I can’t turn my audial implant off either, before you ask.”

“Slag sucking morons,” he muttered to himself. 

As he scrubbed her hair, he was able to find the scars and gently palpitate them. They appeared to have grown with her skull as Dr. Carlisle surmised.

Gently, he lowered her head into the water and rubbed it to remove the soap from her hair when she suddenly jerked up and grabbed her left ear with her right hand.

“What’s the matter child?” he asked gently, running his scanner over her audial.

“The plug behind my ear, it feels like it’s being electrocuted,” she tearfully answered.

Quickly, he turned her head to give him a better view of the interface, and saw that the problem was a lack of protection over her exposed circuitry. What was even worse were the small lesions forming around them from the shorts.

“This is going to be scary, but I promise it will stop the pain,” he said as he produced a thin wire from the end of his finger and gently inserted it into the connections behind her ear. It heated up quickly and evaporated the water that was shorting out the circuits.

While the heater did its job, Ratchet examined the scarred tissue between her audial and optic. It didn’t appear to have any evidence of plastic surgery ever being applied, and decided to discuss the necessity with Livewire.

“There now, feel any better?” he asked her.

“I have a headache, but that’s nothing new,” she answered honestly.

“Do you need me to help you wash your face?”

“No thanks, I can do it.

“Can I get out now? I’m afraid I’m going to rust.”

“Of course.

“I’ll leave you and Elita One alone to finish up,” he said as he turned toward the entrance.

Elita One rushed in when she heard him taking his leave.

“Elita, I’m going to need to examine the scar on her back a little more closely. Send her to the lab when she is done,” he addressed her.

He left the girl and went in search of Livewire. This child was going to prove a perplexing challenge.


	19. Chapter 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies for not getting this last chapter posted until today. Frankly, given the lack of "What's going on next?"/"Why haven't you updated this week?" messages, I breifly debated not updating at all. 
> 
> But, given the one fan who left kudos, I decided to get caught up. So, here's part 1 of a 2 chapter update.
> 
> LGTracy

Chapter Eighteen:

 

“I swear Optimus, the more I learn about this Dr. Carlisle human, the less I like him,” Ratchet groused.

“There’s more,” Livewire interrupted.

“More? How could there possibly be any more reasons to dislike this human?” he asked his smaller colleague.

“I told you I was not present for all of Ellie’s procedures. There were a couple of sessions she told me about, and I was able to confirm, where her eggs were harvested.” 

“She couldn’t have been more than seven! How could he have done such a thing? There would have been no way they would have even been viable,” Ratchet roared. So, there was another reason to dislike the human doctor after all.

“Of course, she didn’t understand that was what had happened, but based on the procedure, as she remembered it, it was. I am certain you will also find scarring on both of her ovaries where the needle had been placed,” Livewire finished. He wanted to make certain these Autobots knew what kind of perverted monster she was running from.

Optimus found himself clenching his fist until the joints in his hand began to groan and the alloys began to buckle from the stress.

“She will not ever go back to him,” Optimus vowed to them both. “Primus help me! If the government of this society will not properly punish this human, I will.”

“Optimus? You know you’ve just about destroyed your hand, don’t you?” the chief medical officer asked in concern. He had never seen his leader act this way.

Ratchet repaired his hand as he continued with his preliminary findings.

“First of all, she is going to need new cybernetic limbs. Those won’t be too difficult to create, especially if we will be willing to donate alloys to their construction. Her arm is a total disaster; she suffers from a feedback loop in the fine motor processors of the hand, which is why the fifth digit has that tic, and I believe the whole extremity was improperly seated when they first implanted, given the way her shoulder joint is oriented.

“Unfortunately, I will need to run an in-depth scan of the chips implanted in her brain to see what condition they are in.

“Which reminds me,” Ratchet continued as he turned toward the smaller mech. “I will need to get a blood sample from the girl. Would you be able to get it for me?”

“Of course,” he answered as he watched the medic repair his prime’s hand in fascination.

“What alloys do you need us to donate Ratchet?” Optimus asked.

“I’m afraid I’ll need the alloys from our internal protoform skin. It will be rather painful for the donors, but those would be the only alloys that will regenerate fast enough on us to not be missed. Besides, they will have the ability to grow with the girl.

“I also will have to return to N.E.S.T. D.C. to get a few supplies as well. I need to replace her optic to allow her the ability to offline it. Her audial will also need to be replaced since it has exposed circuitry.”

“Does this mean you will need to operate on her again?” Livewire asked in concern. “I do have a supply of both ether and chloroform available for anesthetics if you need them.”

“Unfortunately, yes. She will need additional surgery, and it is good to know we won't need to request anesthesia from the government. 

“The one thing I truly wish we had access to is a plastic surgeon. Besides making her self-conscious, that scar on her face has left her optic open to excessive light, which in turn causes her to have headaches.”

“I have been working on that aspect as well,” the smaller mech admitted. “There is a synthetic skin I was able to develop utilizing what little I know about Cybertronian physiology. It is rather thick though, so I was a bit hesitant to use it until I could confer with you.”

“There Optimus, how does that feel?” Ratchet asked his leader.

Optimus flexed his hand a few times and watched it as he ran a diagnostic. “Fine,” he answered.

“Let me see what you have as far as this synthetic skin after I finish my examination of Ellie. There’s some sort of device on her spine that I need to investigate a little more thoroughly,” he relayed to Livewire.

“I will talk to the mechs about donating their alloys,” Optimus volunteered. “Whatever you cannot gather from them, you will take from me,” he ordered.

“Okay then, I guess that’s it. She should be in the lab by now. I’ll give you my full report when I’ve compiled it,” Ratchet addressed him.

Optimus nodded and went in search of his soldiers. He knew of at least one mech who would volunteer.

VVVVVBREAKVVVVV

“Sir, we don’t know what we happened onto, but we were scouting those coordinates you gave us and ended up hog tied in the back of our vehicles,” Gunny Young said into the telephone.

“Any intelligence on who got the drop on you?” Dr. Carlisle asked.

“Negative sir. Whoever it was, they were pros. They were able to take us all down at the same time.”

“We have just received information that the subject sought out a meeting with the N.B.E.’s. The last known location was near Pittsburgh, about ninety minutes south of you. 

“Fall back to the hotel and await further instructions. We will monitor the N.B.E.’s to get a fixed location and contact you at that time,” he said as he hung up the phone.

“What did they find?” Dr. Eglin asked from the other side of his desk.

“An ambush,” he said in a matter of fact way.

“I need you to go back to the lab and access their audial and visual records to see what they recorded while unconscious. Bring back the raw data when you get it,” he dismissed her.

He sat staring at his achievement wall. He had it brought out of storage when the surgery proved to be a success. 

He leaned heavily on his cane to get to his feet and walk to the center of the space. Proudly, he examined the various trophies and medals he had received when he was a gymnast, making certain no speck of dust marred the perfection. Eventually, his hand found its way to the display of his war medals. He remembered the day he earned them; they were taking heavy fire during one of the innumerable battles during the Persian Gulf conflict, two of his men were dead and another four were injured, not including himself. Finally, they received word the helicopter was coming; they just had to hang on four more minutes. That was when he gave the order to move position closer to the evac. coordinates.

The helicopter landed eighty feet away. He picked up one of his dead troops and followed his men to the helicopter. He had just dropped the soldier onto the deck when he felt the searing pain slice through his back. A boy, no more than twelve had followed him and stabbed him in the back as he tried to get on the helicopter. His men had no choice but to kill the child and pull his collapsing form inside as the pilot took off.

He looked at the medals in wonder. They were the last achievements he knew he had earned. All of the academic and scientific recognition he had garnered since then was nothing in his mind. It was for nothing more than finishing up the work of others. Mopping jobs, he felt.

Heaving a deep sigh, he turned around and walked out of his office. He had physical therapy to get to.

VVVVVBREAKVVVVV

“So, has anyone come up with any ideas as to how we can get our bodies away from the girl’s uncle?” Megatron was asking the assembled sparks.

“Suggest employing Deceptacon forces,” Soundwave suggested.

“Yes. I was thinking that as well. The problem is will she be believed when she approaches Barricade?”

“Unknown. Suggest exchange to verify legitimacy.”

“And who do you suggest she surrenders?” Starscream wanted to know.

“I am the leader of the Deceptacons, it should be me,” Megatron declared.

“Do you really think the Autobots will allow her to let you go? Besides, I’m the leader of the Air Command and second only to you. I will prove to be a less valuable prisoner than you. I should be released.”

“Am I the only one who noticed that Megatron’s body was suspiciously missing from the footage she showed us?” asked Shockwave.

“Perhaps they had it in another bay that was out of camera range,” Megatron tried to reason.

“Unlikely,” Soundwave offered.

“It is probable that the only way she will let anyone go is if they agree to help her get all of the bodies back. Since Megatron’s body is missing, he is out. So, that would mean the only two mechs she would be likely to release would be Starscream and Soundwave. So, I believe it should probably be Starscream who is released,” Sentinel Prime said.

“And why do you think it should be him?” Shockwave wanted to know.

“Simple, he will help her if it means helping himself. The only way he is going to be restored is if he gets his body back. The humans under her uncle’s command have his body, so he will have no problem helping her fight them.”

“I hate that you are right,” Megatron had to admit.

Now, he thought, I must try to get my little one to find my body.

VVVVVBREAKVVVVV

“Sir, there has been no word yet from Optimus Prime,” Airman Cary reported to General Lennox.

“That’s fine. I expect he will be getting back with me later this evening or sometime tomorrow. Don’t worry about it.”

“You trust the alien sir?” he asked in concern.

“Of course. 

“I have fought side by side, or ankle, with Optimus and the rest of the Autobots for years. They have saved my life more times than I can count and kept this planet from getting enslaved, destroyed and otherwise made uninhabitable three different times that I’m aware of. And that’s just counting the times we were involved in. Who knows how many other times they saved us without our being aware?”

“But sir! They’re alien robots. You are talking about them like they have feelings or something,” Cary tried to point out.

“They do have feelings, Cary. Have you ever spoken to any of them? Have you ever spoken to any of the men here who have been serving with them? Do you even know of half of the things they’ve done to help the men here and their families?”

“No sir. I don’t want to get involved with them any more than I have to. 

“Haven’t you ever seen the movies? Every time aliens come to visit the planet, they end up destroying it. It wouldn’t surprise me if they are just the advance teams to subdue the planet while their masters are on the way to take over once we’re well in hand.”

“What? Where in the hell is this coming from?” Lennox wanted to know. If the kid was afraid of aliens, then he most certainly should never have been assigned here.

“I’m just wondering how it seems awful convenient that every time public opinion, and the government, begin to seriously consider asking them to leave, some other planet wide catastrophe rears up that they have to stop unless they’re the ones manufacturing them,” he said on one breath.

“I think you’ve seen too many movies. 

“The truth is you have to take each individual on their own merits. The Autobots are good beings. Here let me show you what I mean,” he said as he pulled the airman over to the window.

“You see that guy down there cleaning his weapon with Skidz?” he pointed. “His hand was crushed when he was working on his car at home. The doctors wanted to amputate, but Ratchet wouldn’t let them. He was able to repair his hand to allow him to remain in the military.

“You see that woman over there with the files? Mirage volunteered to drive her on a date. Some guy she met online. He turned out to be a serial killer that would have made her his next victim if Mirage hadn’t intervened to save her.

“That guy over there? Sideswipe drove his daughter to her prom and kept her date from raping her.

“That guy directly below us? He was suffering from an aneurysm that Ratchet was able to diagnose and get treatment for just as it was about to let go.

“I could go on, every member of this unit has their own story to share, but that wouldn’t matter to you, would it?”

“We were told they wouldn’t help us,” he muttered, almost to himself.

“Who told you that?” Lennox wanted to know as he turned the kid toward him. He noticed the iris of his eye seemed to shift mechanically as he refocused and his heart began to sink.

“Come with me,” he said as he pulled the airman behind him.

“Hey Mudflap. Do you have the ability to scan and detect cybernetic implants in humans?

“Huh?” Mudflap asked.

“I believe I can,” Mirage volunteered.

“Scan him. I think it’s his eye,” Lennox said as he pulled the kid forward.

“You are correct. His eye has been replaced by an optic.”

“Take him for questioning. Mirage, I need you and the other Autobots that can scan for cybernetics to scan every new member that has been assigned here within the last two years. If you find anyone else, I don’t care who it is, take them for questioning.”

Lennox raised his eyes to look at the office spaces. Where was Major Ellison?

VVVVVBREAKVVVVV

He should have known the young troop would break, Major Ellison thought to himself as he quietly left the hangar. Didn’t he understand this was part of the plot? They would ingratiate themselves in with the militaries of the world and then slowly take over the planet.

He had seen enough to know these Autobots had a gentler approach to world domination, but still, that had to be their ultimate objective. Why else would a supposedly highly intelligent race want to bother with this backward planet? That whole song and dance their leader performed about giving all intelligent life forms the right to choose for themselves was crap. Who decided what was considered intelligent life anyway?

He saluted the guard as he drove through the gate without stopping. Luckily, either Lennox hadn’t notified the gates to stop all personnel from leaving, or the guard just hadn’t received the missive yet.

He turned the corner and pulled out his Bluetooth; “This is Major Ellison. My cover’s been blown. Cary has been compromised. Request extraction,” he said to the Vulcan troop on the other end of his radio link.

“Report to fall back position and await further instructions,” was the reply.


	20. Chapter 19

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is part 2 of a 2 chapter update. If you are one of those people who just forward directly to the last chapter and start reading, you should go back to the previous chapter and read it first.
> 
> LGTracy

Chapter Nineteen:

 

“No!” Ellie screamed as she jumped off the table she was sitting on and ran out into the work room.

 

“Ellie! Get back here this instant!” Livewire called after her. He knew she hated needles, but this time, he couldn’t let her duck out on him.

 

“No! You won’t stick me again!” she yelled back as she slid around the corner heading toward the deeper caverns.

 

“Ellie! Stop! Somebody stop her!”

 

In response Arcee and Bonecrusher tried to catch the frightened child, only to miss her when they just couldn’t maneuver quickly enough. She made the turn up the ramp towards Prime’s vantage when she ran straight into Optimus as he was hurrying down. He had heard the spindly medi-tech yelling for someone to stop the child on his way back.

 

Fortunately, he saw her before she saw him and was able to kneel down in time to catch her.

 

“Gotcha!” he said as his hand closed around her.

 

“No! No more needles! No, no, no,” she cried.

 

The tears running down her face broke his spark. He hated to see her in such distress, but the tests had to be performed.

 

“Why is she so upset about getting a blood test?” Ratchet wanted to know.

 

“I’m afraid that’s my fault. The last time I needed a blood test, the chair collapsed under her and I ruptured a valve,” Livewire admitted with a heavy spark.

 

“How long ago was that?”

 

“Two months ago.”

 

Optimus held the child against his chest as she sobbed. She clung to his chest plates as if her very life depended on it. Awkwardly, he made soothing noises to try and ease her suffering.

 

“Do you know where the valves are now?” Optimus asked.

 

“Of course.”

 

“Ellie. Child, listen to me. Ratchet needs a blood test to make you well again,” Optimus tried to encourage.

 

The little girl’s sobbing started to ease and she began to hiccup at the sound of the giant mech’s voice.

 

Imploringly, she looked up at the kind blue optics over her sunglasses. “You . . . won’t . . . let ‘im . . . hurt . . . me?” she whimpered as she tried to catch her breath.

 

“No. I will not allow anyone to hurt you anymore. But I’m afraid this must be done.

 

“I promise I will not let you go, if that is alright?”

 

Studying the being with her too old eyes, she tentatively agreed with a head nod.

 

Lowering her so Livewire could get at her arm, Optimus talked to the girl;

 

“I have not had much time to thoroughly investigate the cave you showed me Ellie, the writing is ancient. But I have been able to translate a few words. The most complete passage I have been able to read says something about a code in blood and bone holds the secret to something about veracity. Does this sound familiar to you?”

 

The child appeared thoughtful as she tried to make sense of the passage. She did not even realize Livewire had finished taking her blood until she was able to wipe her nose on the back of her hand and push her sunglasses back onto her nose.

 

“That didn’t hurt this time,” she said in astonishment to Livewire.

 

“Something isn’t right about that passage, but I don’t know quite what yet. Let me think about it and I’ll get back with you,” she addressed Optimus.

 

He chuckled as he answered. “I’m certain you will.

 

“Now, I have to check on the rest of my mechs. Will you be alright now if I hand you off to Ratchet?”

 

“He’s not going to stick me with any more needles is he?” she asked as she wrinkled her nose.

 

“Absolutely not! That’s why I had Livewire get the blood test,” he said as he accepted the girl. “To be honest, I hate dealing with needles too,” he confided in an overly loud whisper which he promptly followed up with a violent shudder.

 

She laughed in response as the medic carried her around the corner toward the lab.

 

Optimus watched with open admiration as the child seemed to so easily forget the wrongs done to her.

 

“Are all children so eager to forgive?” he asked the small medic.

 

“For the most part; every child wants nothing more than to be loved as unconditionally as they do, and know it.”

 

Optimus rose easily to his full height. “It is such a simple desire, and yet one that many simply refuse to grant.”

 

“A life full of hurt does tend to teach hard lessons. Not the least of which is there is no such thing as unconditional.”

 

“For children, there should be.”

 

VVVVVBREAKVVVVV

 

Megatron had not been tethered to the recharge table or the arena when Ellie made her break from the small medic. He knew he would not be able to stop her, but he found himself following her in concern anyway. If he were to look honestly at his motivation, he would recognize he was going to try to console her.

 

He stood close enough to the wall that he had a perfect view of Optimus’ cradling his daughter to his own chest. Briefly, he felt the bright spike of jealousy at the way the librarian held his little one. Quickly, he allowed reason to overcome his baser instincts; this is what he wanted. The knowledge he actually cared about Ellie would hand deliver a method of controlling him over to his enemies. This is what was best for her. He knew it.

 

Leaving his vantage spot when he saw the medic get the blood sample, he returned to the rest of the sparks. He did not know what to make of his odd emotions, somber, and yet also buoyant.

 

VVVVVBREAKVVVVV

 

This was absolutely amazing! Hound thought to himself as he examined the holographic projectors at the entrance. She used a static energy field to make it appear as if the wall was solid. Of course, he figured it would be convincing to anyone with Cybertronian sensors, but he wondered how it would convince humans.

 

“Hey! Little ‘bot, Mike?” Hound asked of the small sentinel.

 

Mike looked back at the sound of his name, [C“Yes?”C] he asked in a lower class of Cybertronian.

 

“How does this holograph fool humans?”

 

[C“It is dark in this part of the cavern, so humans naturally shy away from it. Ellie just made the holograph even darker, so they stay away. And if any happen to get a little too close to the image, the energy field zaps them. C]

 

[C“Besides, no humans ever come here. The magnetic anomaly fries all of their electronics unless they know the path through. No one does,”C] he answered honestly.

 

“So, how do you interrupt the energy field so only those you want to can enter?”

 

[C“Polarizing our armor neutralizes the effects.”C]

 

“Are you sure you should be telling me that?” Hound asked concerned. Security among these Elliebots seemed awful lax about the free exchange of information.

 

[C“Jazz vouched for you. Besides, Ellie has other methods of defense and security measures she can deploy when or if she needs to.”C]

 

“Like?”

 

[C“Don’t know. She hasn’t had to use them, so she didn’t share them with us,”C] Mike said as he turned back toward his post.

 

Smart girl, Hound had to admire her.

 

“So, what do you do over there?” he continued. Cautiously, he polarized his armor and tested the ‘bots information. It proved to be correct, so he walked through the energy field.

 

[C“Watching for texts or visitors,”C] he answered.

 

“Don’t you have a communications center for that?”

 

[C“Oh no! The radio signals hurt Ellie’s head.”C]

 

“So, who would have the number to text her? And why can’t they just call?”

 

[C“Poor signal won’t let calls through. Ellie has some friends that send her information.”C]

 

“What kind of information?”

 

[C“The kind she needs to stay safe,”C] was the only answer he was given.

 

[C“It seems your prime just received a message from Ellie’s friends,”C] Mike continued as the light flashed on the small pre-paid cell phone.

 

“What? Who knows he’s here? Those spidrobots,” Hound answered himself as it occurred to him.

 

[C“Want to go get him?”C] Mike asked.

 

“Sure.”

 

[C“Remember to polarize.”C]

 

“Thanks,” he said drily.

 

Hound only had to walk back through the holograph to see Optimus coming out of the arena chamber.

 

{i“Optimus, you have a text message from those spidrobots you left at the warehouse,”i} Hound sent via their internal radio link.

 

“You don’t sound as if you approve,” he answered as he walked up to him.

 

“They’re spies for the girl.”

 

“Have they sent her any information that harms us?” he asked quickly.

 

“I don’t know yet.”

 

“I’ll ask her.

 

“So, how does this entrance work?” he changed the subject.

 

“She set up a static energy field behind the holograph. Just polarize your armor and you can get through it.

 

“Do you really think she would tell you what her spies told you about us?”

 

Optimus polarized his armor and then adjusted it when it proved to not be at quite the correct frequency to counter the field.

 

“She hasn’t lied to us yet.

 

“Mike? Hound said you have a text for me?”

 

[C“Yes prime ‘bot,”C] he chattered politely as he handed over the phone.

 

Easily, he hacked into the phone and retrieved the message.

 

“It was from Lennox; they have discovered spies in the N.E.S.T. DC command. Airman First Class Cary and they believe Major Ellison. He cannot be located at this time.

 

“The Secretary of Defense wants Ellie turned over to the military at once. The security advisor was able to grant us two weeks until the president returns from his vacation.”

 

“Spies for who?” Hound wanted to know.

 

“Unknown. They do know that Airman Cary has a cybernetic optic implant.”

 

“Uncle Al! Uncle Al!” Mike chattered excitedly. [C“Tell Ellie! Quick! Quick!”C] he urged as he shooed them back into the lair.

 

VVVVVBREAKVVVVV

 

“How are things going with you Jazz?” Optimus asked as he paused in the main workroom.

 

“Pretty much boring stuff,” he answered.

 

“What are you doing?” asked Hound.

 

“Ellie found a way of tapping into the magnetic field to gauge its continuity. Whenever anything breaks it, it registers on this monitor as an outline of what it is. Pure biologics have a fainter outline than anything metal.”

 

“Amazing!”

 

Optimus allowed the two to continue their discussion and went in search of Ratchet.

 

VVVVVBREAKVVVVV

 

“Okay now, what can you tell me about this scar on your back?” Ratchet was asking as Optimus turned the corner into the lab.

 

He stopped and stared at the space briefly in wonder. It was so bright in here, and large. He didn’t even have to stoop to get through the entryway.

 

“It’s uncomfortable to sleep on,” Ellie was saying.

 

“Anything else? Do you remember anything about when you got it?”

 

“I was six. They took me into the hospital room where they did his procedures and strapped down my hands and legs. I know I remember it because I was on my stomach this time.

 

“Anyhow, I was crying and saying I didn’t want any more tests, then I felt something hurt my back and then I didn’t feel anything anymore below where my back hurt. Then, they put me to sleep again and when I woke up, my back still hurt, but I could feel again.”

 

“Thank you Ellie,” Ratchet said as he gently stroked her hair with a finger.

 

“So, can you fix whatever is wrong with me?” she asked hopefully.

 

“Yes. I can fix what’s wrong with your implants, but there’s nothing wrong with you,” he wanted to clarify.

 

Optimus saw her brows draw in confusion at the comment, and then shrug it off.

 

“Can you tell me your findings?” Optimus asked his chief medical officer.

 

“I think I should tell you all at the same time,” he answered as Livewire put an arm protectively around the girl.

 

VVVVVBREAKVVVVV

 

“Blood tests reveal higher than normal levels of metals in her system,” Ratchet began. “This may be due to her body’s natural attempts to eliminate the foreign bodies of the implants and associated chips. It appears that her blood is corrosive to the kind of circuitry implanted in a majority of her technology.

 

“She is anemic, which I expected, given her recent history.

 

“There also appears to be a great number of lesions around the brain implants, which is another reason for her constant headaches.

 

“The information Livewire shared with us about the scarring was also accurate. Fortunately, whoever did it knew what they were doing and I don’t foresee any future hormonal problems.

 

“There appears to be no tenderness or other signs of rejection of the skull plates. In fact, it would appear the protoform armor actually bonded with her natural bone and continued to grow as if it were the skull.

 

“The optic and audial implants do function properly, although I did find evidence of a remote viewing and listening sub routine embedded within the normal circuitry as well as a receiving device. The main problem with them is that they are not properly protected; the circuitry of her audial implant, as I’ve already told you, is exposed to external elements, and her optic has no protection from excessive light, which has also been adding to her headaches. I’m afraid they will have to be replaced.

 

“She also has a spinal port that was used to repair a severed spinal column. It has been overgrown with human skin and is intact. The only real problem with it is the discomfort it causes when she tries to lie on her back. I don’t think it is necessary to replace it at this time.

 

“Finally, her cybernetic limbs are much too small for her. The arm is quite frankly a piece of slag; poor design, worse programming and outright wrong seating at the shoulder. Fortunately, the arm will be the only limb surgery that will have to be repeated.”

 

“Why will you have to operate on her shoulder?” Optimus wanted to know.

 

“Because the morons who initially placed the seating joint put it in backwards.”

 

“How can you put a joint in backwards?” Livewire asked.

 

“It’s only easy if you’re an idiot,” Ratchet sighed through his vents. He raised his hand upright and generated his holograph to illustrate what happened. “You see the standard seat has three different arms, one over the top and two on either side. They got the one on top and the one in front correct, but they messed up on the back. What confused them is that they designed them according to what ours look like, with a small hook on the very ends that point outward, and a larger hook about an inch further down that point in and actually hold the joint to the body. The one on the back is oriented so the larger hook is outward and is being held by the smaller hook.

 

“That is why she was always breaking her shoulder when she would try to use the arm. It would simply unseat itself, and then catch on the two correct arms which would put excessive stress on the bone.”

 

“So I’m broken,” Ellie said sadly.

 

“No child. You are not broken, your implants are just malfunctioning,” Ratchet said again as his attention was caught by a flash from the matrix collector.

 

Seeing his attention diverted, Ellie followed his gaze and saw the essence matrix coming to rest on the padding beneath the device.

 

“Well Livewire, looks like we got another customer.

 

“Would you like to help?” she asked of the medic.

 

“Yes. I would like to see how you do this.”

 

“May I observe Ellie?” Optimus asked her.

 

“Me too!” Hound added from the entrance.

 

“Sure. Just ask whatever questions you need to as we go along,” she answered as she was already jumping off the table and picking up a clean white cloth.

 

“The first question I have,” Optimus started, “is how did you get that spark here?”

 

“Oh, that’s Webster’s idea,” she stated. “I don’t know the exact technology, but the gist is developing something called a teleportation channel from the millimites that have been seeded throughout the planet to this matrix collector.”

 

“Millimites? Seeded throughout the planet? How is this possible?” the prime was curious.

 

“Ok. Webster miniaturized some technology to the milliscopic level. He calls them millimites. They act as monitoring devices for every Cybertronian that has ever spent any length of time on this planet over the last five years. They are programmed to adhere to the energy signature of the matrix, then if any fatal injury happens to the ‘bot, the millimites are programmed to activate their end of the teleportation channel which then brings the essence matrix here.

 

“Now, as to how we seeded the planet; first we spread the millimites along the major highways. Then, it’s a basic pollination equation; the ‘bot picks them up, as he transforms, it migrates the ‘mites toward the matrix, any extras are then either transferred to any other ‘bots he comes in contact with, either through combat or familiar contact, or just drops off along the road where another ‘bot can pick them up.

 

“Is that what you wanted to know?”

 

“Yes. It is.

 

“How do you know who the spark belongs to?”

 

“That I can explain after we get him into the holo-preserver. Any other questions about the teleporter?”

 

“Just one, how can you tell if these millimites have infested you?”

 

“That’s easy, just scan your chest innards with a standard debris scan set at the milliscopic and microscopic levels.

 

“Anything else?”

 

“Not about the teleportation technology,” Optimus finished.

 

“Please, continue with your new patient,” Ratchet encouraged.

 

“First thing we do is get it out of the collector bin in case more are coming. I found out the hard way that you should use a cloth when I accidentally touched a connection that had acid on it.

 

“So, we set this fella up here, and Livewire is going to get a sample from the dust that seems to naturally occur in between the crystals,” she continued as she pulled her stool up to her work bench and he gently rubbed a cotton swab between two crystals.

 

“What is he studying the dust for?” Ratchet wanted to know.

 

“I told you that you guys have DNA. He’s mapping it,” she said distractedly.

 

Curious, Optimus walked over to stand by Livewire’s shoulder. “Will I bother you if I stand here?” he asked.

 

“Not at all,” he answered as he became engrossed in his work.

 

“Now, this fella’s about sixteen inches in diameter,” Ellie continued as she eyed up her latest patient.

 

“That means he’s about the same size as Ironhide. So, I’m going to need to make a standard base.

 

“First thing I need is a medium piece,” she said and began pointing her two new helpers around the worktable.

 

“. . . a piece of the spidrobots’ special gold-leaf cloth to help keep the connection points in contact on the bottom . . . now the green drawer, I’ll need one from each section . . .” she directed.

 

“Okay, so now that the base is all done, let’s find out which way he’s oriented. For that, I developed this base that is connected to a computer monitor, all we need is the gold sack to go over the matrix,” she pulled out a gold colored cloth the same weave as the one on the bottom with wires coming from it, “and then connect it to the interfaces and hit the power button.”

 

The image on the monitor depicted a generic stick figure looking like it was in the middle of doing a cartwheel.

 

“Poor thing’s on his head. So, let’s adjust him a little bit, and there. He’s on his feet, but let’s see what direction he’s facing.”

 

This time the image depicted a generic head in profile. She adjusted the matrix again and was satisfied with the results.

 

“Now, we just put a little carbon on the bottom connection points so we know how he would go into his body, sit him in his new holo-preserver and connect the wires to the points inside of the cube. Now we put the cube on and we’re done. He just needs to sit on the recharge table for twenty-four hours before we can turn him on and introduce ourselves,” she finished with obvious pride.

 

VVVVVBREAKVVVVV

 

“So who found what they believe to be DNA inside of one of our sparks?” Optimus was asking Livewire.

 

“Ellie. Despite everything, her uncle did teach her a few things about proper scientific research. The first thing was always know exactly what you are dealing with.

 

“And it is DNA. I’ve run the analysis myself over six hundred times. Every matrix, or spark, as you call them, that comes from a Cybertronian has DNA wrapped within an odd metallic molecule. They each have two specific nucleotides in common, one is HDL 1, or the human gene, and the other is the one I call the Cybertronian gene.”

 

“What? How is this possible? What do you mean by a Cybertronian has DNA? What about those ‘bots created on this planet like yourself?”

 

“I don’t know. Exactly what I said, and no. Those of us created here appear to not have DNA. Ellie believes it may just be that we are so young ours is still firmly within our frames and simply has not had the time to slough off.”

 

“Just for curiosity’s sake,” Ratchet asked as he joined them after finishing up with Ellie. “Have you mapped Ellie’s DNA?”

 

Livewire smirked and glanced to make sure she had left for the moment. Wordlessly, he accessed a port in his chest and displayed it on the monitor in front of him. “And this is the map of Jazz’s DNA,” he said as a second read out appeared below the first. “This is HDL 1, and this is the Cybertronian nucleotide.” She had it too.

 

 

VVVVVBREAKVVVVV

 

“It’s about time you guys got here,” Major Ellison said as the dark SUV pulled into the warehouse.

 

Wordlessly, the rear passenger door opened and he got in. The door was closed and locked before he realized what had happened.

 

“Hey! Who are you? Release me right now! Let me go!”

 

The holograph in the front seat dissolved and a disembodied voice said from the speakers, “Silence insect!”

 

In desperation, he began to kick at the seats and doors with his cybernetic leg. He was doing some damage to the interior, but the alien remained silent. Finally, he was able to kick out the rear passenger window and started to clamber out when it transformed, crushing his lower half in the process. Major Ellison screamed in pain as he felt his bones twist and shatter from the hips down.

 

Through the haze of pain, he saw the black and white police car pull in behind the alien. “Help!” he yelled at the officer. The car complied willingly when he also transformed and walked up to the SUV.

 

“Release him Lugnut,” the newcomer said.

 

Wordlessly, Lugnut reassumed his alt form and the black and white plucked the semi-conscious human from his rear window.

 

“You are Major Andrew Ellison, member of the United States Marine Corps and spy to Dr. Alistair Carlisle. You were sent with two others to infiltrate N.E.S.T. and determine the movements of the Autobots,” he was informed. “I know all about you and your cohorts. By the time either side gets here, you will be beyond saving. I am only here to address you personally to leave a message for Dr. Carlisle: Ellie is beyond your control, but you are not beyond mine.”

 

Manifesting a razor sharp blade, he slit the skin behind the human’s right ear and pulled out the audial implant. Easily, he cloned the signal of the remotely controlled recording device, and downloaded the saved files, making sure to send his specific message on before he crushed the implant in his fingers.

 

Dropping the human as if he were nothing more than trash, Barricade walked over to the apparently dying biologic’s vehicle and reactivated the GPS device.

 

“Let’s go Lugnut,” he said as he transformed. “We did what we came here for.”

 

Following his best friend and leader, Lugnut rolled back out into the abandoned alleyways before he spoke. “Barricade? Why didn’t you just kill the insect?”

 

“Because this will be far more efficient for our purposes.”

 

“How?”

 

“He will survive at least long enough to tell whoever finds him that he was attacked by alien robots. If it is the Autobot forces that find him, he will inadvertently lead them to Dr. Carlisle’s base, which will finally release me from my debt to the human child. If it is Dr. Carlisle’s forces that find him, they will have another reason to hate the Autobots and cause even more trouble for them. This way, I don’t have to deploy my own forces prematurely.”

 

“Oh.

 

“So, can I get a new form now? This one has that last insect’s lubricants all over the interior and he dented it up pretty bad.”

 

“Of course you may have a new form. You did very well,” Barricade answered as they made a detour toward the military base. “I think you would look very good in camouflage.”

 

 

VVVVVBREAKVVVVV

 

Mudflap and Skidz were the first to arrive at the location of the major’s car. They found him still alive, but unconscious and badly damaged.

 

{i“Skidz to base; found Major Ellison and he ain’t none too good. Request medical types here pronto,”i} he sent via his internal com.

 

<R“Roger Skidz. Dispatching Dr. Zadak with Dino,”R> the human on the other end responded.

 

A few minutes later, Dr. Brenda Zadak was kneeling over the still form of Major Ellison. “The audial implant is trashed. I doubt we’ll be able to get anything out of it now. Here, let me remove his cybernetic leg and see if that relieves some of the pressure on his pelvis. I think he may end up losing his other leg though. It’s badly damaged.

 

“I am still getting a rather strong pulse behind his knee and in his ankle, so the major blood vessels seem to be intact.

 

“Start an IV,” she ordered the medic. “Get him stable and try to keep him sedated. The pain from his injuries might cause cardiac distress.”

 

Skidz and Mudflap looked at each other. They both thought it was kind of odd that the human doctor knew he had a cybernetic leg without examining it first. Mudflap sent his suspicion to Dino as Skidz sent his to General Lennox.

 

Scans of the doctor did not reveal any cybernetic implants.


	21. Chapter 20

Chapter Twenty:

 

“So what’s the diagnosis Hot Rod?” Optimus asked the wrecker. He and Wheelie had made themselves useful checking out his trailer while Ellie was being tended to.

“Not good,” Wheelie volunteered. “Anything in here that had a circuit board is slagged.”

He raised his optics to the wrecker for confirmation.

“He’s pretty much correct. Everything that was on the rear left side of your trailer is beyond repair. Those that were placed farther away have received various degrees of damage, a lot of which I can repair if I have the proper supplies.

“Your flight deck can be fixed, but it’s useless now,” Hot Rod finished.

“I will ask Ellie if she has any of the supplies you need. Do what you can.

“Ratchet and I will be returning to N.E.S.T. command before the end of the evening, he needs some supplies to help repair Ellie’s implants and I am curious about how the search for the spies is going. I will leave some of you here to help protect the girl.”

“No problem. I would suggest leaving Hound in charge. His unit is closest to supply back up and replacements if needed.”

“That was my intention. Of course, I will include Ellie in our decisions regarding her safety.”

VVVVVBREAKVVVVV

Optimus sent the meeting request to his mechs through the internal radio link. They had discovered that using the link did not appear to harm Ellie and there was no distortion within the caverns. Bumblebee sent his standard chirping response before he tapped his ear and pointed to the entrance to signify to Jukes he was needed in the lair.

“Okay. I’ll stay here. 

“Maybe you should talk to Ellie about your vocal processors,” he added. “She is really adept at solving problems.”

Bumblebee cocked his head and slowly nodded. Maybe he would ask her for her opinion.

When he was passing through the arena room, he looked around to get a better feel for the place. That’s when he noticed the odd device set up in the far corner beside the plasma television. He made the note in his processor to check it out when he came back through the room again.

He entered the lab and his optics immediately sought out his little translator. He recognized the instant brightening of her expression as happiness. When she came running over to him, it seemed almost natural to scoop her up and set her on top of his grillwork. His optics took in every aspect of the lab in a glance as she rested her head against his helm and they stayed that way throughout the briefing.

VVVVVBREAKVVVVV

Optimus took in the familiar way his scout and human charge interacted. It seemed odd behavior between a mech and a human, but they seemed to both benefit from it.

“Everyone, this briefing is to discuss your assignments over the next few days. Ratchet and I must return to N.E.S.T. command to get some supplies and get an update on the infiltration.

“With Ellie’s permission, I will leave a force here under Hound’s command to help keep the lair safe. Do you mind if he brings some others in here from his unit?”

“If Bumblebee can stay too, I don’t mind, and as long as he doesn’t treat me like a baby. And he doesn’t try to keep me from doing my work,” she bargained.

“Yes, Bumblebee can stay. Will you have any problems with her requests?” he asked Hound.

“As long as she doesn’t try to blow herself up or something, I have no problems.”

“Very well. You, Hot Rod, Prowl and Bumblebee will remain along with Jazz and the others that have been staying here. I do not want to have to reveal too much about how they were saved to the military at this time.

“Ellie, perhaps there is something you can help us with,” he addressed her.

“Me? I guess. I’ll try to help if I can,” she replied cautiously.

“There has been an incident in N.E.S.T. command; a spy has been discovered with an optic implant. Would you know anything about it?”

“Well, if he had an optic implant, he’s probably either one of my uncle’s plants, or one of the doctors’ who worked with him. I know a few of them were dismissed when they stood up to him for one reason or another.

“What’s the guy’s name?”

“Airman First Class Jacob Cary”

The girl appeared thoughtful for a moment, and then began to recite the file she apparently accessed; “Cary, Jacob William. Airman First Class United States Air Force. Injured July fourth of last year when a bottle rocket exploded outside of his window and shattered the glass. Injuries sustained included a broken orbital bone, loss of sight in the right eye, temporary tinnitus and abrasions to the face, arms and hands. Replacement of eye with cybernetic implant authorized July tenth by Dr. Alicia Eglin. Surgery performed July eleventh. Recruited into Deadeye unit August third. Assigned to special duty November fifteenth.

“Is that what you mean?” she asked.

“Yes. It is exactly what I meant. Tell me, how did you know all of that?”

“I still have friends in my uncle’s lab. They send me the files on all of the subjects he’s recruited into his private military. I download them into my implants and then can access them whenever I need to.”

“How can you access them at will?” Ratchet was curious.

“I don’t know. Why? Can’t you?”

“Well of course I can,” he blustered, off balance, “but you shouldn’t be able to. I have never heard of any times where the biologic tissue of the brain can access the technological aspects.”

“You have now. After all, the brain is just an organic computer. It’s just a matter of rewiring the electrical impulses between the tissues to include the technology and vice versa.”

“Ellie,” Optimus interrupted. As fascinating as this was, he needed to get back to the problem of the moment. “Would you be willing to let us have the files on your uncle’s subjects?”

“The files I have are over a day old. I can let you have what I have.

“Do you have an email address and does Arcee know it?” she asked suddenly.

“Yes. She knows how I can be reached through the internet,” he replied in confusion.

“Arcee,” she addressed. “Text Maestro and tell him that the ‘bots who are helping me are in danger from Uncle Al. Have him send a copy of his latest personnel update to Optimus as well as all emails the doc has sent or received for the past two years. Tell him to include contact information if more files are necessary and give him whatever he asks for.

“Will that help you?”

“I don’t know. That will take a human some time to compile,” he replied hesitantly.

“He’ll have it to you within two hours of receiving the text. I’ll give you the files I already have when the briefing is over.”

“There are aware mechs assigned to your uncle’s project?” he asked in astonishment.

Ellie smiled in answer. “Unfortunately, they can’t move to help the ones that aren’t aware directly . . . yet.”

“What are you waiting for?” Hound wanted to know.

“Opportunity and means.”

“Yes. That will help us tremendously,” Optimus replied in awe.

“Now, how will we communicate with the lair?” he had an idea, but he just wanted to see if he was figuring this brilliant human child out.

“Well, I would guess the same way Barricade does; we have a few prepaid cell phones that we have reserved. We can give you a few that you can clone and then just send the texts to one of a few numbers. I do have to warn you, we don’t keep any phone number active for more than three days.”

“That will be acceptable.

“Tell me, why does Barricade contact you?”

“Because I helped him when I first escaped. He was stuck in his car form and on his roof, so I got the guys to turn him over and he followed us until we found a safe place to repair him. He stayed with us for a couple days, cloned the radio receiver frequency my uncle kept trying to use to find me, then went about his business once he taught Clyde how to protect me from the radio signals.

“He still texts me to let me know when it’s safe to leave the lair. Usually after my uncle sends out a locating signal, I have about twenty-four hours to leave and get back.”

“In the meantime, he is learning whatever information that is intended for you,” Ratchet said, calculating. “Do you remember what some of those messages said?”

“I mostly just remember the pain. Every time I would get one, I’d get a really bad headache and my ear would start bleeding. Lately, it would make both my ear and nose start to bleed.

“If you want, I can give you what he sent me since I got away. I have everything that I’ve ever recorded through my implants saved on hard drives.”

“Would you be willing to give us everything you’ve ever recorded?” Optimus asked in curiosity.

“I can give you most of what I’ve recorded. There are a couple files that just wouldn’t be right to give you ‘cause I promised I wouldn’t say anything.”

“They may have some information that we might need.”

“You trust Ratchet, right?”

“Of course! He’s my chief medical officer and one of my most trusted advisors,” Optimus answered in confusion.

“Okay. Ratchet? You’re a doctor type, so does that mean you have to keep anything I say to you that doesn’t affect my health a secret if I ask you too?” she addressed the medic.

“Yes. I do have the same responsibility to uphold patient confidentiality as a human doctor,” he confirmed cautiously.

“Okay, then would it be acceptable to you that I give Ratchet the files, and he can go through them first? I’ll tell him about the three files that I’m concerned about blabbing and you would trust his judgment about if they are necessary, wouldn’t you?”

“Agreed. You can give the files to Ratchet and he will share whatever is relevant with us,” Optimus accepted. He found her attempt to maintain trust and still help him to be most noble.

“I have a question,” Hound interrupted. “Tell me, what have those spidrobots been texting you about us?”

“I don’t know everything; Boney and Soto got those texts and briefed me. I just know that they said you spoke to a general about me and he gave you temporary custody until he could investigate and arrest my uncle. Oh, and that everyone was upset when you saw the video of my first surgery with my uncle, and you guys are taking over the Autotronix buildings.”

“‘Upset’ is an understatement,” Hot Rod muttered.

“Speaking of the properties, have you found all of the escape routes?”

“We don’t know yet. That is another thing we will be checking on once we are out of this dead zone,” Optimus said as he noticed Bumblebee quickly wrap his hand around the child and begin stroking her back with a finger. If he had to guess, he would say the child was much more upset about the trauma than she was showing, if his scout’s actions were anything to go on. Her return stroke of his jaw would seem to indicate she was just as affected by his emotional response.

“Now, if I may request one thing more of you Ellie,” Optimus started.

“Hmmm?” she made a quizzical sound as she brought her attention back to him.

“My trailer hit one of the magnetic anomalies and several components were damaged. Would you have any replacements Hot Rod could use to repair them?”

“I don’t know. Most of the stuff I work with is in here. There are some crystals I’m growing for technological use in the main work room too. Just look around and use what you need. I just ask to be told what you’re using so I know what needs to be replaced for my work.”

“That’s a reasonable request. May I look around before they leave so they can bring anything you don’t have?” Hot Rod asked.

“Sure.”

“Now, that is all I have. Anyone else have anything?”

“I do,” Ellie said quietly.

“Yes?” Optimus encouraged.

“Okay, I would suggest you take Jukes, Livewire or the spidrobots with you. They were with me at the lab and can tell you if they recognize anyone that isn’t in the personnel files. 

“Also, try to get back before snow starts to stick to the ground; that’s another way I’ve been able to avoid detection.”

“Unless First Aid is available, Livewire has to stay here to take care of Ellie’s medical needs,” Ratchet insisted.

“He was en route to the industrial complex base when we left. He might be there by now,” Hound answered.

“Livewire already knows everything that’s going on with her. He will remain,” Optimus decided.

“However, if Jukes or the spidrobots are willing to join us, they are welcome.”

Bumblebee chirped and nuzzled the girl before reluctantly placing her on her feet.

“He says he’s going to go take over for Jukes so you can ask him,” Ellie translated.

“Proceed,” Optimus granted when the scout hesitated.

The sound of thumping on the worktable drew everyone’s attention to the spidrobots where Webster was jumping in glee. Ellie reached out to catch him when he promptly fell off.

“I guess Webster is volunteering,” she said drily.

“Just don’t go getting stuck in anyone’s circuitry this time. It took me three days to get all of the wires repaired in Clyde’s neck when you fell off his head,” she admonished the little ‘bot.

He promptly covered his face with his two front legs in embarrassment.

“May I see him?” Ratchet asked.

Wordlessly, Ellie handed him over and Ratchet proceeded to run a medi-scan over him.

“Well here’s the problem; his distance sensor is slightly misaligned. Just give me one second to readjust it, and that should do it,” he said as his lasers made the appropriate adjustments.

“Feel any different Webster?” Ellie asked in concern.

In answer the little ‘bot shook his head as if to clear the cobwebs, and then proceeded to fall out of Ratchet’s hand.

“Guess not,” she muttered.

“No, that was my fault. I should have left him sitting on the table until he was able to complete his internal diagnostics.

“So, feeling any better now?” he asked his small patient.

Webster flipped himself onto his back and proceeded to twitch as if he was dying.

“I think he’s saying you tried to kill him,” she giggled.

Webster jumped onto his feet and clapped his front legs together in answer.

“I did not!” Ratchet exclaimed, affronted.

“That’s just Webster. He likes to tease,” she laughed.

“Humph! You’re just lucky I’m a medical professional. Otherwise, I would be sorely tempted to step on you,” Ratchet groused with a twinkle in his optic.

Webster scurried up to the worktable and hid behind Weaver and Webber in response. The latter two each took a couple of giant steps away from him. The message was clear; he was on his own against the medic.

“So, are you two coming along as well?” Optimus asked with a chuckle.

Weaver looked at Webber, who nodded at her. She offered her front leg to the prime in a human imitation of a handshake.

Optimus shook her leg gently. “I guess that’s a yes then.”

She nodded her head.

“Okay. We will leave in one hour. That will put us at the D.C. base around twenty hundred hours. 

“Hound, go get a detail together and bring them back. Take Prowl with you to navigate through the anomaly.

“Hot Rod, find out what you need to fix my trailer and get me the list. Include whatever you borrowed from Ellie,” Optimus ordered his troops.

“Ellie. There is something I must discuss with you,” he started as Jukes walked in.

“Yes?”

“General Lennox has granted us temporary custody of you until your uncle has been apprehended. The one primary concern we have is that we do not know the complete parameters for your care. 

“We have a human friend who worked with us for years and left the military several years ago. We would like to invite him to join us to help with your care. Will that be acceptable to you?”

“I don’t need a babysitter!” she denied hotly.

“He will not be a babysitter. You can consider him our advisor on human development, if that will help.”

“Who are you talking about?” Ironhide wanted to know.

“Robert Epps.”

“I know him Ellie. He’s a god guy. Let him come,” Ironhide encouraged.

“You do realize I’m at the age where I could actually babysit other kids and get paid for it, don’t you?” she huffed.

“He can come,” Jukes decided. “And you will not give him a hard time Urielle Lorena Guardian or I will be most unhappy with you.”

“I don’t need a babysitter! I’m perfectly capable of taking care of myself,” she announced.

“Ellie, he won’t make fun of you,” Elita One comforted as she pulled the child into her arms. “Optimus will make sure he won’t.”

The girl remained tense for a few moments until she turned her head into Elita’s frame and shook with fear.

“Of course he will not make fun of you,” Optimus replied disconcerted. He had not considered her adamant refusal for human involvement stemmed from her self-consciousness. “He may be curious about your physical differences to start, but he will not blame you for them.”

Resignedly, she waved her good hand at the prime and trudged out of the lab.

“I’ll make sure to design her replacements to appear completely human,” Ratchet quietly confirmed.

“I will work on the synthetic skin with the new parameters you’ve given me. 

“Make sure when you design her legs, you give her real human feet. She is rather self-conscious about having robotic foot pads instead,” Livewire counseled.

“This is going to be far more difficult than I realized,” Optimus said with a sigh.

“She’s worth it,” Jazz said from the door.


	22. Chapter 21

Chapter Twenty-one:

 

 

Fig’s first shift on the wall of the complex was turning out to be completely boring. Two-ten assigned him to partner up with J.J. who turned out to be much more intelligent than his name would imply.

 

“So, you’re saying these robot alien types just want to take over the world and turn us all into their slaves?” Fig was asking.

 

“Yes. That is what the training has been telling us to believe,” he returned with a shrug.

 

“You don’t believe it,” Fig whispered in realization.

 

Again, J.J. shrugged and returned to watching the perimeter. He had seen the subliminal messages imbedded in the videos. Usually, it was Dr. Eglin’s voice that was heard on the accompanying audio. The only reason he heard it was because he was getting suspicious of the illogical fear he felt whenever he walked through the lab bays where the robots were being examined, so he recorded the next briefing and was able to separate out the voice – under.

 

“You know, I think the doc is going to start taking an overly active interest in two-ten shortly,” Fig informed.

 

“Most likely. She doesn’t always think about who else is listening to her when she starts spouting off at the mouth,” he agreed.

 

“You think she’s going to lose her job?”

 

“If she’s lucky, that’s all she’ll lose. We’ll find out if she gets sent out for exercises in the next couple days.”

 

“You don’t think . . . ?” Fig started. He knew it could happen, he just hoped what J.J. was insinuating wasn’t true.

 

“Let’s just say there tends to be a lot of training accidents involving people who talk too much.”

 

“But, nothing you can prove.”

 

J.J. shrugged. “So, tell me how you lost your eyes.”

 

“The first contact we had with the alien robots in Qatar. We escaped our base attack and made a stand at a mountain village. The scorpion looking thing fired a missile that took out a building ruin I was standing under. Got some sort of metal in my eyes that became infected and they had to amputate them.”

 

“So, you have a reason to hate them.”

 

Fig shrugged. “I haven’t had a reason to welcome them with open arms.

 

“If it wasn’t for Captain Lennox, I’d be dead.”

 

VVVVVBREAKVVVVV

 

“E.T.A. to command approximately three hours. Sending a complete listing of personnel currently on Dr. Carlisle’s payroll. Request General Lennox meet with us as soon as possible regarding high level governmental corruption. Ask that he bring in the J.C.S., security advisor and Secretary of Defense,” Optimus radioed to Dino and Mirage. Once he received their acknowledgment, he sent the data burst with the relevant information.

 

“So, what do you think their reaction will be when they learn the current Secretary of Defense was one of the individuals responsible for Ellie?” Jukes asked from the passenger seat.

 

“That is why I have requested the security advisor be there as well. She seems to be on Ellie’s side. I only hope he can be apprehended with a minimum amount of trouble for any of us.”

 

“He is the Secretary of Defense. It wouldn’t surprise me if he believes himself to be untouchable in his current position.”

 

“That is a logical conclusion. I just hope he decides to show up.”

 

“It’s doubtful he would realize we have proof that puts him in league with Carlisle,” Jukes tried to reason. “So, why would he not?”

 

VVVVVBREAKVVVVV

 

Barricade chuckled once he downloaded and analyzed the signal intended for the girl.

 

This human was clever; he was attempting to imbed subliminal messages within his messages to keep her afraid of robotic organisms. Of course, if he was trying to keep her alone, then he would undoubtedly be trying to incite his own troops to violence against any Cybertronian that would try to help her as well. That was why he found himself parked within a three block radius of N.E.S.T. command. It was dangerous, but if he could get Carlisle to make his move against the Autobots, then that would move him one step closer to defeating them both.

 

He also knew enough about Prime to know the humans sent against his troops would be captured. Of course, the humans fighting in their defense would not, necessarily, be so charitable.

 

Sighing at the way his plan was coming together so perfectly, he sent the text as he had promised the girl he would. It wasn’t that he actually cared about her safety, but rather, as long as she was still in play, he could maneuver the good Uncle Al into any position he wanted.

 

Besides, he found he may very well have need of a human with her abilities. It wasn’t every day you had a human with the knowledge to repair his kind that trusted mechs more than humans.

 

VVVVVBREAKVVVVV

 

“Hello Alicia,” Dr. Longhorne said as he answered the phone.

 

“We received a lock on the subject,” she informed him.

 

“Where? When?”

 

“Near N.E.S.T. command about twenty minutes ago. We will have a unit deployed to that sight in four hours. I’m giving our people the order to bug out.”

 

“Acknowledged. Let me know when you have her back. Make sure to fry all electronic equipment as well; they have videos of the experiments done on her,” he ordered.

 

“Yes sir. We will notify you when she is back in custody.”

 

Dr. Longhorne hung up the phone without pleasantries as he sat down to his computer. Quickly, he pulled up his resignation letter to make certain it sounded believable. Satisfied, he composed his email and saved it under drafts. Now, all he needed was confirmation the girl was safe and he would be free of those damnable alien robots. He still quietly seethed at the idea they thought he would actually believe them; like they actually would leave the planet without subjugating humans. He knew better.

 

VVVVVBREAKVVVVV

 

“Yes Alicia,” Dr. Carlisle asked with great annoyance.

 

“We have confirmation of a radio lock on Angel,” she answered without preamble.

 

“Where?”

 

“N.E.S.T. command in D.C.”

 

“Deploy all numbered divisions on standby. As soon as there is sufficient evidence she is on scene, full assault. Try to save what you can of their technology; I want to be able to examine it within twenty-four hours. Make arrangements for the standby clean rooms to receive it.

 

“And Alicia,” Dr. Carlisle warned, “this had better not be another false alarm.”

 

“Yes sir,” she answered as she hung up.

 

“So what was that all about?” his companion asked from her side of the bed.

 

“My niece may have been found at your N.E.S.T. headquarters,” he answered as he turned his attention to finding his pants.

 

“She’s there?” Security Advisor Jennifer Agosto asked in disbelief. “When?”

 

He looked at the clock as he heavily leaned against the nightstand to get to his feet. “We sent out a locating signal an hour ago, followed by another one about twenty minutes ago. Alicia would only have called me if both signals had been picked up within the same vicinity.”

 

Quickly, she set about finding her clothing, turning on the bedside lamp so she could see. “I better get out of here then. Lennox will be calling me soon to inform me of the new guest.”

 

“Just make sure you don’t leave anything this time,” he said dismissively as he limped into the master bathroom.

 

Her face flamed in embarrassment as she quickly dressed, and then left his house.

 

“Phone,” she ordered the secret service agent as she left the house.

 

“Ma’am, General Lennox called for you five minutes ago,” he relayed the message.

 

She dialed his number while moving to the Suburban. “General Lennox, I know why you are calling,” she started as soon as he answered. “Inform N.E.S.T. command to prepare for attack. Dr. Carlisle has just received word Urielle is there and has ordered his troops to attack as soon as her presence is suspected.

 

“I will be there in six hours,” she said as she hung up the phone.

 

VVVVVBREAKVVVVV

 

“So, what do you make of that?” Lennox asked the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

 

“It sounds as if she knows more about Dr. Carlisle than she led us to believe,” General Sherman Morgan began.

 

“I will call the president personally and tell him about what is happening here. You need to call N.E.S.T. and inform them to get ready for attack. If possible, try to have the Autobot’s make it appear that the girl is there. The more players we can get, the better the chance of bringing this bastard to justice.”

 

“Yes sir,” Lennox said as he dialed the number.

 

VVVVVBREAKVVVVV

 

“We may have found her mistress,” Alicia said into the phone. “It appears she is at the military supported base in Washington D.C.”

 

“Is it certain?” the aristocratic elderly lady asked with surprising strength.

 

“No my lady. We have received two radio locks on her implants in the same area within an hour of each other. We also know she has sought out the infidels for aid that are stationed there.”

 

“Inform me when she is under our control,” she ordered before she hung up. Sighing, she got up from her wing-back chair and walked to the concealed door. Pushing the hidden trigger, she opened it and went inside the dark passageway. She didn't ‘bother with a light; she knew every inch of this hall intimately. The door swung closed silently behind her, removing all hint of illumination. Turning the corner, she easily turned the shield set on the wall clockwise a quarter turn, clockwise again a half turn, then counter two full turns. The wall on the left opened with a soft groan, revealing the sun's light from the quartz skylight.

 

The floor was beneath the door a full thirteen stories, a descending, crumbling staircase circled the massive chamber to the left. A well maintained staircase ascended another five stories to the right. It was up these stairs the woman climbed. She stopped at the top, where it ended in an observation deck. She approached the edge and fell to her knees, kneeling before the giant face in front of her.

 

“My lord!” she whispered. “We have found the region the key is hiding in. It will be found shortly, and you will be restored to your glory.”

 

Suddenly, the eyes glowed a brilliant violet. They swept the wall five stories further above her, descending the wall until she was bathed in their light. Startled, she cried out and threw herself on her face, prostrating herself before her god.

 

“Where?” he asked.

 

“With the vile beings that would enslave us my lord; Washington D.C.” she answered into the floor.

 

The violet light of the eyes remained on the woman for another few moments and then went out. She laid there and wept for the joy of being the one to finally awaken the god. It would not be long before he would again walk the Earth, and reward those who had remained faithful.

 

Finally, she brought herself to her feet and walked out on the bridge to his face. With all the reverence of a priestess for her god, she kissed his massive lips, and backed away, not daring to turn around until she was at the stairs. As fast as she could make her feet move, she left the platform and descended to the door. Once outside, she rotated the shield clockwise until the unicorn appeared to be galloping directly out of it. The door groaned shut.

 

VVVVVBREAKVVVVV

 

Maestro watched Dr. Alicia Eglin through the security feed. He had recorded all of her conversations since she made the mistake of using the land line. That was an error she rarely made, so he speculated she must have been really excited.

 

Quickly, he hacked into the databases he wanted. Easily, he found all of the information about those she had called. With a sinking spark, he realized this was far more dire than he had thought. It wasn’t only Dr. Carlisle that was after Ellie; it was, apparently, some odd sect of religious zealots that worshiped a unicorn as well.

 

Running through all of the scenarios, he decided the best course of action was to notify Optimus Prime. He just hoped the leader of the Autobots could use the information to keep her safe. He compiled the file and sent out the message.

 

VVVVVBREAKVVVVV

 

“Alright Boomer,” Ellie addressed the holograph from the safety of the bathing facilities. “I had to give Ratchet all of my cybernetic recordings. But, there was one that I wasn’t sure about and I haven’t gotten any real answer about it from anyone who listened to it.”

 

“What is it?” Soundwave was curious.

 

“When I was fixing Barricade, he would let me sleep in his rear seat to keep the radio signals from hurting me. I don’t know why, but I would sometimes wake up and hear what I guess is your native language in my audial. Jazzy said he didn’t understand it because it wasn’t a dialect he was familiar with, and Boney said he didn’t quite know what it was, but he definitely heard your name in it,” she said as she snapped a device over her left ear.

 

“Ow,” she breathed as it audibly clicked into place.

 

Soundwave patiently waited for her to continue.

 

“So, this is what I would hear,” she said as she began to play the audial recording she kept in her implant.

 

Easily, he heard the voice of the black and white in a common internal dialect. “That fragging Soundwave thinks I’m going to just kill myself and let him ride the wave to glory on Megatron’s heals! What he doesn’t know yet is that I’m still alive and am in the ideal position to take everything over when he follows our illustrious leader off the cliff. And Megatron will be so pleased when I maneuver the situation so it looks like Soundwave was the one who pushed him; I will be in position to get rid of Starscream too. It is only a matter of time before I am the only mech Megatron will believe. The fool will not even realize he will be my puppet!”

 

“That’s the end of it,” she said as she eagerly removed the device. Gingerly, she rubbed her ear to ease the pain.

 

“Information enlightening,” he said thoughtfully. So, the secret enemy he had been investigating before he ended up here had been Barricade. That would make sense. It also gave him a better idea as to who more of the upper members most likely were in Barricade’s ranks.

 

“So what did he say?” the girl demanded.

 

“He is angry at me,” he said simply.

 

“And?” she prompted.

 

“Fantasizing about revenge,” he answered evasively.

 

“Are you in danger?” she asked in concern.

 

“Uncertain.”

 

“Can I help?”

 

“Negative.

 

“Return to arena.”

 

Ellie sighed as she gathered him up into her arm. “Alright Boomer, but you’ll let me know if you’re in danger, right?”

 

He didn’t answer, and she didn’t expect him to.

 

VVVVVBREAKVVVVV

 

“I’m telling you, I just don’t believe that little scar faced insect didn’t know we are her prisoners,” a Deceptacon named Deadbolt was exclaiming to Megatron.

 

Megatron sorely wanted to pound the insolent fool into reset, but refrained.

 

“I have been able to spend some time getting to know the girl,” he informed his mech instead. “It is highly probable that she viewed herself as our protector.”

 

“Then she’s as foolish as she is ugly!” Deadbolt exclaimed.

 

“Shh!” Starscream cautioned.

 

They all stopped speaking and watched in silence as she approached the arena and quickly docked Soundwave into one of the empty slots. Without a word, she turned and left out of the gathering chamber and into the deeper caves. Only Soundwave saw the tears as she left.

 

Megatron felt as if his spark was shattering. But he couldn’t move to defend her, it would just put her on the hit list of his enemies.

 

“She’s gone,” Soundwave stated deceptively cool.

 

“You idiot!” Starscream started on the hapless Deadbolt.

 

“You will face me for your stupidity!” he said as all of the other images disappeared from the arena, leaving him facing the insulting mech. The fear on the other’s face delighted the seeker as he approached.

 

VVVVVBREAKVVVVV

 

Ellie was able to turn up the ramp before she broke into a run. There was only one being in the whole universe that could keep her heart from breaking into a billion pieces, and she instinctively ran to him. She was already launching herself into his arms before he could fully turn in her direction.

 

Bumblebee instinctively brought the girl up to his face when he felt her distress. Eagerly, she wrapped her arm around his neck and sobbed. Surprisingly, he could hear the hateful words she had overheard as if they were playing within his own audials. He didn’t know if she was sharing the sounds through her implants, of if it was from their odd connection.

 

He felt his spark shattering at the depth of her sorrow. He knew that it wasn’t, necessarily, what the mech had said, but the fact Megatron hadn’t defended her that hurt her the most.

 

He cooed at her the best he could as he cursed his inability to talk to her. Even if they did have some sort of odd connection, sometimes, he knew, you needed to be able to hear the words.

 

“Why don’t you take her back down into the lair,” Hound said from the control panel of the shocker.

 

Gratefully, Bumblebee turned and nodded his head as best he could. He didn’t want to dislodge her from her hug. He needed to give her some sort of comfort as much as she needed to take it. He turned and left the placement.


	23. Chapter 22

{i"Comm link communication."i}

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO:

“So, anyone know anything about these guys we’re meeting up with? Private First Class Deacon Fellowes asked of his assembled unit.  
tect Angel from those aliens,” Gunny Young informed his subordinate.

“Just out of curiosity, if these aliens are so evil, why is she even asking them for help instead of coming back to the doc?” the newest recruit, Senior Airman Leslie Austin asked.

“She doesn’t know any better,” Young replied curtly.

“Their plan is to ingratiate themselves with the military and then use them to subjugate us all into slavery,” Sergeant Goode explained.

“But, how do we know that’s their plan?” she wanted to know.

“‘Cause that’s always their plan,” replied a voice from the back of the transport.

“Alright, I’m going to share something with you guys that you must not have realized,” Senior Airman Austin started. “We, all of us, have been subjected to brainwashing. All of those so called video briefings were laced with subliminal messages saying the same thing over and over; ‘the robot aliens want to enslave all humans.’

“Has anyone else with audial or optic implants noticed the message flashes?” she asked.

Slowly, everyone who had either implant, or both, raised their hands.

“Now, I was a trained psychologist one semester away from getting my degree when I had to enlist. My dissertation was on the historical use of subliminal messages to influence behavior and opinions. The messages are the classical method of doing that. Other methods include reinforcement tactics where the message is proven to be correct. These are usually staged or otherwise skewed to be proven correct.

“My personal opinion is that we are not being told the entire truth. I think we should keep that in the back of our minds when we go into this situation.”

For a few minutes, no body moved or said anything. Then another voice from the front of the truck spoke up. “If you’re right, then we can’t trust anything we’ve been told, including each other. If you’re wrong, then we can’t trust you, or anyone else that might be in agreement with you. So, Doc Austin, what do we do?”

Expectantly, she looked up at the gunnery sergeant. He shrugged and trained his optics back on her.

“I would say we hang back. Let the others proceed ahead of us and watch how they are treated by the aliens. If they are treated cruelly, or mowed down ruthlessly, then we support their advance. If they are captured or otherwise not harmed, we support the aliens and try to figure out what is going on. If you don’t want to support the aliens, then we can at least not fight them if they capture us.”

“You know,” Gunny Young started, “I was always wondering why I looked at the bodies of those robots with curiosity when we first started getting them, and then total terror the last several months. I think you may be right.”

“She is right,” a young army private volunteered.

“I didn’t quite know how to tell you that I actually served with the Autobots. That’s the faction that has allied with the U.S. military. I was injured in a maneuver in Shanghai, that’s how I got my implants. Their leader, Optimus Prime, is an honorable being. He would never subjugate our species, and he definitely would never use a child to do so.

“I agree with Doc Austin’s plan. We take up the backup position. Of course, we also have to make sure the casualties are minimized on both sides too.”

“Alright! Anyone not on board with this plan?” Gunny asked his unit.

No one raised a hand.

VVVVVBREAKVVVVV

Starscream gleefully pounded the hapless grounder into reset on four different occasions and was working on his fifth when Sentinel Prime materialized behind him. 

“Enough seeker,” he said as he grabbed the flier’s arm.

Gratefully, the beaten mech winked out of the arena and regained his holo preserver. Quickly, when he realized everyone was continuing to glare at him, he shut himself down.

“You dare?” Starscream asked incredulously.

“Yes, I do dare Starscream. Continuing to beat Deadbolt into reset will only serve to move his opinions from open hatred, to festering resentment. That is what causes revolutions. Tell me, can you really afford another revolt on top of the one you are already fighting?”

“As I recall, you were the one that chose to beat down the dissenting opinions in the first place,” he accused.

“I willingly admit it was my leadership that provided a fertile environment for this war to ignite. That is a regret I must continue to live with for the rest of my existence.

“However, I still firmly stand behind my belief all Cybertronians should be viewed as the superior species we are. We must remain united against the humans, be it the entire planet, or this single youngling. Fighting amongst ourselves weakens us exponentially.”

“I think you are a liar,” stated Shockwave as he flicked into the ring.

“You would try to pick another fight with me Shockwave?”

“No. I merely know you too well.

“The truth is, you and you alone view yourself as a god. I have even heard you compare yourself to Primus himself, and found him lacking. For millennia, you took your personal fear of inferiority and used it as an excuse to subjugate the lower castes. Now, you find you can no longer convince those you once held in such low regard to resume their places beneath your feet. Instead, you try to lure them into your position and promise them humans in their stead.

“Tell me, if you had succeeded in enslaving the human species, what would the other Cybertronians have gotten out of it? What achievement would they be able to hold on to? That they could crack their own whips louder than their comrades? They were able to kill more humans that didn’t work fast enough than another shift? What would you have allowed your own people to build?

“No, you wanted to enslave the entire planet to rebuild our own so you alone could lay claim to rebuilding it. It was your own selfishness that killed our home world.”

“Who are you to tell me what is within my own spark Shockwave? How dare you presume to dictate my motivations to me?” Sentinel Prime exclaimed.

“I am your creator Sirius Pulse. I have watched you from the time you were first spawned. I know what is within your spark because I gave it to you. You can lie to everyone here, including yourself, but you will not lie to me.”

Stunned, at both the sound of his hatchling name and the vehemence of Shockwave’s accusations, Sentinel Prime winked out of the arena in defeat. Were his actions truly borne out of a fear of inferiority? Was he truly trying to steal his own species’ pride and achievements in the name of selfishness? He needed to think on these revelations.

A glower at Starscream had the seeker winking out of the arena hastily before Shockwave followed.

VVVVVBREAKVVVVV

“Ellie?” First Aid asked gently. 

“Are you in pain?” he continued as he ran his medi scan over her.

Bumblebee shook his head slightly at the medic then tapped his own chest over his spark.

“Ah. Spark ache huh,” he translated.

“Who in the universe hurt her now?” Livewire asked angrily.

Bumblebee projected a holographic image of Megatron in answer.

“Megatron? He would never . . .” Livewire started.

“He would,” interrupted Bonecrusher. “Especially if it would keep her safe.”

“What? How in the name of Primus would hurting the girl keep her safe?” First Aid asked in confusion.

“Simple, Megatron has a lot of enemies. If anyone knew he had any friendly feelings for the girl, she would be number one on their hit list as a way of getting to him. He quite honestly can’t afford to care about her.”

“There are a great many followers of Megatron who would crush their own spark casings to protect the girl if they knew he cared about her too, simply for the chance of getting in his good graces,” First Aid observed.

“And how many of them would put her in danger in the first place just so they could rescue her?” Bonecrusher pointed out.

“I guess you’ve made a good point.

“Anyway, Ellie? Can you talk to me? I had a couple questions for you.”

The girl loudly snuffled as she wiped her nose with the back of her hand. Miserably, she wiped her eyes off on her hoodie.

“What?” she asked as she turned around in Bumblebee’s grip. Tiredly, she rested her head against the gentle scout’s jaw plate.

“I have been reviewing several of the files Ratchet and Livewire have shared with me and I found something that hasn’t been addressed.”

Ellie’s eye got decidedly shinier behind her sunglasses. She was wondering when someone was going to ask about it. “What?” she asked again.

“You said you found out the hard way you couldn’t put a random essence matrix in the wrong body. Where did you get the body that taught you that lesson?”

Finally, she smiled. “You want to follow us?” she asked as she whispered the directions into Bumblebee’s audial. “We’ll show you.”

Quickly, the scout brought her out of the lab and through the main chambers. When they got to the ramp, she directed them the opposite direction along a ledge. After about one hundred yards, she pointed through a wide passage. Bumblebee turned on his flood lights to illuminate the path. 

“There’s a generator along the back wall. I have lights already connected to it.”

Easily, Livewire found the generator and started it up. Instantly, the chamber was bathed in light and revealed another large work area. Unlike her primary work room, this one appeared to be more of a clean room. In the center, was Bonecrusher’s almost complete body.

“That’s my body!” he said in confusion. “How did you get it here?”

“Maestro generated false paperwork when it was supposed to be dumped into the Laurentian Abyss that transferred it to sector seven. Of course, the address turned out to be an abandoned warehouse where Clyde picked it up and brought it back here. I’ve been working on it ever since.”

Quickly, First Aid’s medi scan played over the body. “You’ve done pretty well at restoring him. Just a few minor repairs and he should be ready to reactivate.”

“No! I won’t do it!” Bonecrusher said as he flew at his body. Angrily, he gripped at whatever exposed cables and sensors he could reach and began to rip them off.

“Boney!” Ellie said in fear and confusion.

Bumblebee gently set his passenger on her feet then grabbed the violent ‘bot before he could do any more damage.

“No! I won’t go back! I hate that body! Destroy it! Rip it apart! Use it for spare parts, I don’t care!”

“Boney!” she addressed more forcefully. Without fear, she walked up to the flailing robot that immediately stopped his struggles when he saw her. “Boney. What’s wrong with your real body?” she asked as she put a comforting hand on his shoulder.

“It’s ugly and I hate it. I never want to go back to feeling like that again. I want to gain the attention of a femme I don’t have to pay to be with me. I want friends that like me for my spark and not what damage they think I can do. I want to be able to sit with others and not scare them off when they look at me.”

“Why do you think you’re ugly?” Ellie asked innocently.

“Before the war started, I was a gladiator like Megatron,” he started as he hugged the girl to his torso. “I was called ‘Handsome Heavy’ by the crowds. Eventually, I faced an especially cruel opponent and was roundly defeating him. Just as I was about to go in for the finishing move, he sprayed something on my face and head and it started eating away at the plating. In pain and anger, I grabbed the ‘bot and crushed him between my hands. Eventually, since the match was over and I was still functioning, Shockwave pulled me out of the arena and was able to save my life. Unfortunately, he had to replace my head with this,” he finished with a dismissive gesture at his body.

“Well, if that’s all you’re worried about, Bonecrusher,” First Aid started, “I can give you a new head and face. Since this wasn’t your original specification, that will be relatively easy. It may take a while though, what with the war using up our resources. But I swear to you as a medical professional, I will repair your head.”

“And I promise to like you no matter what you look like,” Ellie added.

“So, will you let me and First Aid finish fixing you? If it isn’t going to take too long, in human terms that is,” she asked of both ‘bots.

“You promise you’ll still like me?” he asked hopefully. At the girl’s instant nod, he continued, “Go ahead and fix my body. I guess you’re going to need my help to get the others' bodies anyway.”

“That we will. 

“It should take about three hours to finish the rest of the repairs, including what he just did to himself,” the red and white medic addressed the girl.

“Okay, so you want me to get started redoing what he just did or do you want me to show you the others first?” she asked innocently.

“Others?”

“Yeah,” she said as she led him to a long and narrow passage that led to a smaller cavern. 

Easily, Bumblebee picked her up and put her back on his shoulder, his floodlights illuminating the way. When he reached the cavern, he stopped dead in the passage and let out a wail of surprise and grief.

“You know them?” she asked in surprise.

Wordlessly, he nodded and then approached hesitantly. He slowly sunk to his knees and looked longingly at the three bodies lying so still before him.

“I am really sorry, but there was nothing I could do,” Ellie said as she stroked his jaw. “As you can see, they all had some sort of massive chest trauma. These two didn’t even have their chest coverings, so it was easy to see the crystals in the center of the essence matrices were crushed.

“This last guy, I’m afraid I couldn’t even open his chest to check. His coverings were just too badly damaged.”

“By the Allspark! Bumblebee! Quick, get him out into the larger cavern,” First Aid ordered.

The yellow scout quickly, yet gently, deposited Ellie onto the floor and grabbed the last ‘bot under the arms. First Aid grabbed his legs and they maneuvered him out into the larger chamber.

“What’s going on? Did I do something wrong?” the girl started to panic.

“Oh no. You did something right. You got him out of the elements and had him sitting up so he didn’t lose any more Energon than necessary.

“Unfortunately, in order to get to the majority of the damage, I’m going to have to lie him back down, which is going to drain his reserves.”

“Can you open his chest coverings then? Maybe if I can put his essence matrix into a holo preserver, it will give you the time to repair his body without killing him, or would that not work?”

First Aid looked at Bumblebee in surprise then turned his attention to the child in awe. “Yes, yes that would work. But, I don’t know how long he’s been offline. Do you know how long it will take you to build one of these holo preservers?”

“Depends on how big his matrix is.”

“He is about the same size as Soundwave.”

“Then it will take me twenty-one minutes from start to finish,” she said as she ran out of the cavern.

“Bonecrusher, it will take me a little over an hour to stabilize him. His damages are much more severe than yours, so I would like to stabilize him, and then finish your body. Is this acceptable to you?”

“Absolutely. By the way, who is it?”

First Aid looked at Bumblebee whose optics were definitely merrier. “Sunstreaker.”

Bonecrusher took a few seconds to digest this new information, then started to laugh. “You might want to wait to tell Starscream. My understanding is they go way back, and not in a good way,” he said as he trundled out of the cavern. “I’ll text Prime about the survivor.”

“Tell him not to tell Sideswipe yet.”

Something about the way Bonecrusher phrased that niggled at Bumblebee, then he realized what it was. Quickly, he looked around and saw the large white board clear except for a list of items along one edge. He shifted out from behind Sunstreaker and leaned him up against Bonecrusher’s body. Spying the dry erase marker, he gently pried off the lid and began to write his question for First Aid.

“You’re right. I was so focused on Sunny being alive I didn’t catch that ‘survivor’ crack either. Well Livewire?”

“When Ellie and the others first arrived here, one of the first things they did was scout the entire hill. Of every discovery they made, the one that excited her the most was a crash sight. My understanding is that this one and the unfortunate other two were the only ones she was able to get out.

“If there are any others, she didn’t see them.”

Bumblebee wrote another question on the board for First Aid to translate.

“He wants to know if you were here when they found them.”

“No. Jukes got Ellie out of the facility, the spidrobots and I were shipped here later, after she was settled.”

“Who else was with her when she discovered the crash?” First Aid asked.

“Probably Clyde and Soto; they would be the only ones big and strong enough to get them out.”

First Aid’s optics dimmed as he comm’d Hound. {i“Hound, there’s an Autobot crash site somewhere on this hill. Flashlight and Splash died in the crash, but Sunstreaker is still alive. Clyde and Soto helped to get them out. Suggest you get a few mechs together and get one of them to help you search for any other survivors.”i}

{i“Sunstreaker is still alive? He’s been missing for several thousands of Earth years. How is that possible?”i}

{i“The girl saved him and didn’t even realize it. 

{i“I’ll have Livewire get either Clyde or Soto to meet up with you in the junction.”i}

{i“I’ll get Prowl and Grapple to go with me and have Bumblebee take over for me here.”i}

First Aid disconnected the comm as the scout put the cap back on the marker and left.

“Can you notify either Clyde or Soto they will be needed to take Hound and a small party to this crash site? If Sunstreaker survived, then there may very well be others who have as well.

“I will be joining them as soon as I get Sunny stabilized.”

“They both have agreed to help. They also wanted me to convey their absolute horror that there may be survivors within the wreckage that they didn’t know to look for.”

“Thank you. I’m certain that they would have torn the wreckage apart if they knew there were possible survivors.”

“Here!” Ellie yelled eagerly as she ran into the cavern. Arcee, Jazz and Chromia hot on her heals.

“Oh dear Creation!” Arcee exclaimed when she saw the damaged Autobot.

“Sunny! It’s Sunny! How is this possible?” Chromia whispered excitedly.

“Well I’ll be!

“Will he be alright?” asked Jazz.

“I don’t know yet. That’s what the holo preserver is for; his body is badly damaged, so we are hoping that his spark will survive in the preserver while I fix it.”

“Okay, if you can open his chest, I can pull out the matrix and put it in the preserver,” Ellie directed First Aid.

With a sickening squeal of metal being wrenched and torn, the chest parted slowly. As soon as she could wriggle inside, she reached in with her cybernetic hand and pushed in the precise sequence to retract the connections from the body.

“I can tell you the crystal is glowing steadily, if not that brightly. Oh crap! First Aid, can you lift the left side of his chest out? One of the connections is caught between the plating and some sort of strut. Okay, that got it, just need another three inches to be able to pull it out.”

Finally, the spherical structure lifted clear of the chest and into the girl’s eager hands. Knowledgeably, she placed the matrix on the preserver and inspected the damaged connection.

“The good news is he doesn’t need that connection at the moment. The bad news is we won’t be able to turn him on until it’s repaired.”

Wordlessly, First Aid opened his own chest plates and removed the connection. “Here,” he said as he handed it to her.

“What? Don’t you need this?” she asked in alarm.

“Not in the least. I am a medi tech, which means I have several redundancies for most of my vital functions. Besides, my self-repair systems will replace it shortly.”

“Sheesh! Must be nice, ‘Go ahead, take a kidney, I can make more,’” she muttered under her breath as she replaced the piece.

The medic quirked an optic ridge at her words, but chose not to say anything. What little he observed about the child lead him to believe she reacted out of concern.

“Okay, this guy just needs to spend twenty-four on the table and then he’ll be good to go,” she announced as she handed the new patient to Jazz. “Just make sure to keep an eye on the power read-outs.”

Jazz wheeled out with Chromia following.

“So, that was odd,” Ellie observed thoughtfully as she watched her two friends wheel back to the main caverns.

“What was odd?” First Aid asked as he began to quickly remove damaged circuits and conduits from Sunny’s chest.

“The crystals in the center of that matrix looked as if it had been broken at some time in the past. But, it was still glowing.”

“That’s because he is Sideswipe’s twin. It is the same as mono-zygotic twins in humans; they start out as one egg, and then split to form two different fetuses. In my kind, one spark can split into two smaller sparks, leaving a visible break.”

“Oh. Neat!

“So, did Clyde and Soto take your guys to look for more survivors?”

“Yes. I am hopeful that there may be some. If Sunstreaker was able to survive without any sort of medical intervention short of the way he was positioned, it stands to reason he would not be the only survivor.”

“Well, I’m glad I helped, even if I didn’t know I was helping at the time.”

“I am certain both Sunstreaker and Sideswipe will be as well.”

“Maybe Sideswipe won’t hate me now.”

“Why do you think Sideswipe hates you?”

“Well, in order to get him to follow me to the industrial complex, we kinda, sorta had to make him mad enough to not give up.”

“We?”

“I was riding Jukes at the time.”

First Aid chuckled. “I am sure Sideswipe is angrier with himself than either of you. I believe the appropriate human expression would be his pride was bruised?”

Ellie smiled as she walked over to a corner and rolled out a spool of tubing with Arcee's help. “Will this work for his main lines?”

First Aid scanned the tubing and smiled. “That would be even better than standard Energon lines. And it looks like you have plenty.”

Livewire and Arcee rolled out several other smaller spools of tubing of different diameters and the same specifications.

“These are wonderful! I could replace his entire circulatory system with all of this.”

“How long will it take you to repair him?” she asked as she yawned behind her hand.

“It will take me at least two Earth days to completely repair him by myself. So, I am just going to stabilize his basic functions, which will take me a little more than an hour. After that, I am going to go up to the crash site and see if I can help out there. When that is done, I will finish repairing Bonecrusher’s body and whoever else needs it.”

“You really believe there are more survivors.”

“Yes. It is probable there are.”

“It is equally probable the entire bottom of the ship was crushed on impact and there aren’t any,” she said seriously.

“It is possible. But I choose to not consider that.”

“In other words, you have faith.”

First Aid thought about it for a moment. “I guess I do,” he finally admitted.


	24. Chapter 23

Chapter Twenty-three:

 

 

“Jukes, I have just received a text from the lair. They said they found a survivor of an Autobot crash. Did you know about this?” Optimus Prime asked his passenger.

 

“I know about a crash, but there were no survivors,” he answered in confusion.

 

“According to the text, my mechs, Flashlight and Splash, were killed in the crash, but a third, Sunstreaker, survived.”

 

“He’s alive?” Jukes asked in horror. “If we had known he was alive, we would have helped him much sooner. You see, his chest was crushed and we couldn’t get access to his essence matrix. If we had, we would have seen he was still alive and Ellie would have moved heaven and Earth to repair him.”

 

“I know that Jukes. I have spent enough time with the girl, and know my Autobots well enough to realize the girl tries to heal. I do not believe she would have wantonly allowed him to suffer.

 

“There is one thing I must ask of you though.”

 

“Name it.”

 

“Do not inform Sideswipe about this until we know Sunstreaker will survive.”

 

“Of course. May I ask why?”

 

“Sunstreaker is Sideswipe’s twin brother.”

 

“What? He’s a twin? How is that even possible?”

 

“I will have Ratchet explain it to you.”

 

VVVVVBREAKVVVVV

 

“Okay everyone, I’m through the corridor,” Grapple said as he levered himself through the hatch on the other side.

 

“Report, Grapple,” Hound ordered. “What do you see in the main hold?”

 

“Sweet Primus! There are fifteen stasis pods in here. Three are destroyed from the impact it looks like. Two look like they lost power some time ago and one is empty. It looks like another one is empty, and one more, it looks like the occupant was put in injured. His power signs are all negative.”

 

“Can you identify if any of the others survived? And who they are?” Hound asked as he made his way through the corridor.

 

“Standby.

 

“Okay, it looks like the remaining seven all have power readings, but I’m not sure what their status says. The displays all look like they’re half shorted out. Probably from flying through the anomaly.”

 

“Do you recognize anyone?”

 

“I can’t get close enough to tell. I’m concerned that if I get too close, it will shift the balance and move the ship. Given how the hull is covered in stress fractures, it may very well offline anyone that may be alive.”

 

“Alright. Where you, by chance, able to figure out which ship this is?”

 

“Yes sir! It’s the Eight Track.”

 

“The Eight Track?

 

“Clyde! Can you have Mike text Optimus and tell him the crash site has been identified as the Eight Track. We will let him know as soon as we do if there are any survivors.”

 

“Mike said he’s texting and received a message from Prime. He said he wants you to keep him abreast of all new information, and let him know immediately if Sunstreaker survives.”

 

“Well, if he survived this long,” First Aid said as he joined them with Ellie in tow, “he probably will pull through.”

 

“That’s good to know. Did you get him repaired yet?” Hound asked the medic.

 

“No. I have him stabilized right now and Ellie was able to put his spark in a holo preserver to give me the time to repair his body.”

 

“Then what are you doing here?” Prowl wanted to know.

 

“I am here in case any potential survivors need immediate medical assistance,” he said as he worked his way through the corridor. “Did you check these hatches to see if there were any more survivors in those rooms?”

 

“Yes. The first third of the hull was peeled off along the starboard side. There weren’t any survivors in there. The port side held two bodies that we pulled out and set aside,” Prowl continued.

 

“Yes. I saw them when we came up.

 

“So, what do we have in the hold?”

 

“Fifteen stasis chambers. Unfortunately, only seven of them appear to be functioning,” Hound informed.

 

“Have you been able to get to them?”

 

“Negative. The hull is too unstable. I just can’t get a clear enough reading to determine how terminal the stress fractures are,” Grapple diagnosed.

 

“Hey! I know where we are,” Ellie exclaimed happily.

 

“Yes . . . we are in the hold of a ship that crashed on your planet,” Grapple replied slowly.

 

“Yes, but this hold is over a tunnel from the junction. I’d guess it’s that collapsed tunnel,” she replied just as slowly.

 

“So, mister smarty-pants-engineer-guy,” Ellie addressed Grapple, “would you like to see if we can get to those guys from underneath since it’s too dangerous to try from here?”

 

He motioned back through the corridor, following First Aid. [C“I hate this miserable planet and its upstart species,”C] he muttered in his native language.

 

[C“Well you did talk rather condescendingly to her,”C] the medic answered.

 

“I’ll stay here and monitor the chamber,” Hound volunteered.

 

“Okay. Let us know the minute anything starts to shift,” Grapple said in English.

 

VVVVVBREAKVVVVV

 

Putting the phone away, she calmly began to pack up her belongings. She really was glad this assignment was over. She was almost starting to fall for that garbage the aliens were spouting off about self-determination. Maybe it was a good thing to be leaving now; she didn’t want to be anywhere near this place when the units closed in.

 

Closing her locker with a soft click, she absently rubbed at the scar on her chest where her artificial heart beat steadily behind the metal ribs.

 

“Hey Stacey!” Mirage addressed her as she walked through the hangar. “You aren’t going on any more dangerous dates are you?”

 

“Not anymore ‘Raj,” she addressed familiarly. “I’m just going to meet my friend’s new baby.”

 

“I’m afraid you aren’t,” he said sadly.

 

Quickly, she looked up at him in confusion. “Excuse me?”

 

“We have received the personnel files of Dr. Alistair Carlisle’s subjects. Your name was included; artificial heart, lungs and ribs, correct?”

 

Briefly, she thought about throwing her bag at the troops closing in on her with their weapons drawn, and then dismissed the thought. Instead, she merely dropped her bag and raised her hands.

 

“It truly breaks my spark to do this Stacey,” he addressed her with a gravelly voice.

 

“Save it you alien freak! I’m not buying your pathetic propaganda.”

 

Mirage sighed heavily with regret. “Take her to the brig with the others.”

 

VVVVVBREAKVVVVV

 

Thankful for the millionth time she was known for bringing in over sized purses, Dr. Alicia Eglin efficiently removed all personal traces of her existence from the small closet that served as her office. There wasn’t that much, she only brought in generic articles that she found on the internet or in magazines.

 

Opening her private paper files, she opened each one and carefully removed the top sheets before she shredded the rest. Once she had all of the information she wanted, she stuffed it into her purse and dumped the shredded documents into the incinerator just outside her door.

 

Finally, she was getting away from that sociopath and his absolutely psychotic obsession with torturing that poor little girl. The very idea he was blood to her made Alicia cringe. If the prophecies were true, the idiotic genius did not have long to live. That idea made the woman smile with cruel delight. Any being that would treat the key so inhumanely deserved to die a slow and painful death.

 

The phone ringing on her desk brought her out of her thoughts. “Yes?” she asked as she picked it up.

 

“Doctor Eglin, we wanted to let you know we haven’t received the clear code from any of our undercover people,” the voice on the other end informed her.

 

“Any destruction signals?”

 

“Yes ma’am. Just from Major Ellison’s implant.”

 

“Activate the cleaning protocols for Airman Carey,” she ordered in a clipped tone. “If you don’t hear from Ensign Mahoney in thirty minutes, activate them for her as well.”

 

“Yes ma’am.”

 

Dr. Eglin hung up the phone in disgust. The one thing she hated was wasting human life. Unfortunately, she knew it was the kinder thing to do when the alternative was torture by the alien infidels. She didn’t want any human to be subjected to the insult of turning against their own, or accepting slavery when it could so easily be prevented.

 

Sighing, she left her office to oversee the newest batch of patients. This group proved to be promising, at least according to their records.

 

VVVVVBREAKVVVVV

 

Airman Jacob Cary paced back and forth in his cell. He was still surprised the aliens hadn’t tortured him yet. He figured they were just waiting until their leader got back to oversee his humiliation.

 

But still, General Lennox’s words rang in his ears; if these aliens were so bad, why did they bother to save the humans he told them about? He knew it was the truth. He had read and downloaded their files among the rest of the active personnel’s when he was first assigned.

 

Maybe, he had been lied to. Maybe, they were playing on his innate fears. Maybe . . .

 

The severe pain he felt behind his eye was the only warning he received before his implant exploded.

 

VVVVVBREAKVVVVV

 

The sound of the alarm coming from N.E.S.T. headquarters had Barricade scanning the immediate area for incoming threats. When he found nothing, he deployed his extra sensitive listening equipment and trained it on the building.

 

“ . . . Where the hell is the threat?” he identified the voices of the guards. He adjusted his range and listened some more.

 

“ . . . Lock it down! Lock it down! It’s a bomb . . . after prisoners . . .”

 

“ . . . Where’d it come from? How’d they get it in?”

 

“ . . . Casualties?” he heard General Lennox asking someone. He focused his equipment on his conversation.

 

“Airman Cary sir. I was watching his cell, he was pacing and then suddenly stopped and grabbed his eye. Next thing I know there’s a cloud around his head and he just falls over.”

 

“It had to have been his implant. It was probably rigged to blow when it received a signal or something to keep him from talking. Have Dr. Zadak examine Ensign Mahoney for an explosive device and tell Mirage and Dino to arrange some sort of dampening field around her so she doesn’t receive a similar signal.”

 

Barricade put his listening equipment away and started his engine. He knew the local authorities would be responding, so he took the opportunity to use their presence to cover his withdrawal. He figured there was no such danger to the child, and even if there was, he knew the Autobots would deal with it. After all, she had been outside of Carlisle’s control for over five years and hadn’t died yet. He figured if she had had such a fail-safe, it would have been activated long before now. If he were to speculate, he would guess that her escape and evasion of the good doctor was probably what convinced him of the necessity of such technology.

 

He turned on his lights and accelerated toward the freeway. He had done what he had set out to do; soon, the Autobots would be facing a threat they didn’t even know they had.


	25. Chapter 24

~“Written communication.”~

<R“Radio communication.”R>

 

Chapter Twenty-four:

 

 

First Aid spared a glance at the girl’s form curled up in the corner. She had fallen asleep almost an hour ago. He was both grateful for her help, but just as frustrated that she didn’t seem to take her own health seriously. He expelled a huff of air from his vents in his frustration; not only was Ellie selfless to the point of martyrdom, but the damage to Sunstreaker’s chest was proving to be more extensive than he had initially thought.

 

The sound of Cybertronian sized footfalls caught his attention. He looked up and saw Bumblebee peer in questioningly.

 

“It’s okay Bumblebee. I’m in between delicate surgeries on Sunstreaker at the moment.”

 

The scout walked in and stopped short when he saw the girl sleeping in a huddle in the corner.

 

First Aid saw the look of pure devotion enter into the optics of the young mech as he looked at their new ward. It was rather odd, if you asked him, that Bumblebee could be so attached to anyone so quickly. As far as he knew, they only just formally met yesterday.

 

“How are you so attached to her already?” he asked in curiosity.

 

Bumblebee reluctantly pulled his attention from the sleeping form to assess the medic. He didn’t know the mech that well, but Ratchet spoke highly of him. That was all he needed to share his suspicions.

 

He looked longingly at the girl again, then moved to the white board set up in the corner. He opened the dry erase marker and began writing; ~“Almost ten Earth years ago, when we were on the way here, I experienced a cybernetic lock with someone. They were experiencing catastrophic injuries to both legs and their left audial and optic. Toward the end of the lock, I felt this other’s left arm being amputated before they must have lost consciousness. I realized it was the girl after she helped me on the battlefield three days ago.”~

 

“That’s impossible! She’s human, the only way you could have had a cybernetic lock with her is if you share spark energy,” First Aid tried to argue.

 

Bumblebee erased the board and started to write again; ~“When I met her yesterday, she could hear my thoughts.”~

 

“Oh Bumblebee,” the medic consoled, “I’m sorry that you are bound to someone with such a short life span.”

 

He shrugged and wrote; ~“Don’t the shortest lived stars burn the brightest? Now that I have her, I will take the few decades we have together and make them the brightest memories in my entire existence.”~

 

“You are a much nobler mech than I could ever hope to be,” he said as he patted the scout on the shoulder.

 

~“So says the pacifist,”~ he wrote with a chuckle.

 

“Why don’t you take Ellie to her room, a human child of her age should be getting at least nine hours of sleep a night.”

 

Bumblebee put the top back on the marker and eagerly approached her sleeping form. Gently, he scooped her up and held her close to his chest plates. He was pleased when she barely stirred as he lifted her.

 

Livewire was heading toward the clean room, now re-dubbed the surgical bay by First Aid, when he met up with Bumblebee carrying a sleeping Ellie.

 

“Do you know how long she’s been asleep?”

 

Bumblebee shrugged his shoulders.

 

“Well, it couldn’t have been more than an hour or so,” the medi tech mused. “Come on. Let’s get her to bed. Her room’s this way,” he motioned as he led the way.

 

VVVVVBREAKVVVVV

 

“Optimus, she has been moved to your private quarters. I posted the twins to guard her,” Jolt told his leader as he got off the elevator to the subterranean levels.

 

“Thank you Jolt. Are you certain she has everything she would need?”

 

“Yes Optimus; there is a human sized berth set up in your own private sleeping chamber, water, food and appropriate necessities within the human sized elimination room.”

 

“Very good. Make sure to keep an eye on the twins, I don’t want them to get into another one of their fights and disturb her.”

 

Jolt nodded as he headed back toward Optimus’ quarters. The sound of escalating voices made him hurry as the twins began yet another argument. He just hoped he could rein them in before they disturbed the guest.

 

VVVVVBREAKVVVVV

 

The former soldier smiled from his position on the runway behind the base. Fortunately, they had left their C-17’s out for quick deployment if it was necessary, so they had plenty of cover and hiding spots.

 

<R“This is ear three,”R> said the troop. <R“Freaks are talking about a girl under guard in king freak’s quarters. Orders?”R>

 

<R“Any eyes on the girl?”R> asked the disembodied voice of the strike commander.

 

<R“This is eyes one. Saw a human figure with a hood covering their face and long dark hair coming out when they came in. Couldn’t tell gender or age.”R>

 

<R“Continue to listen for confirmation of identity. All teams stand by.”R>

 

<R“Strike commander, this is tech two. My camera is in king freak’s quarters; identity is confirmed. Package on site, repeat, package is there.”R>

 

<R“Copy tech two.

 

<R“All teams move in. Engage! Engage! Engage!”R>

 

Quickly, team three moved like the efficient killing force they were; they threw the explosive compound onto the closed hangar doors and took cover as the doors exploded inward, before the dust had even settled, they were moving, throwing flash-bang grenades inside in an effort to subdue any humans and confuse the sensors of any robot that might be there as well. The shouts from within the structure were expected as the human team tried to regain their footing after the initial confusion.

 

The shouts of the strike team as they streamed in covered the sound of the ambush teams coming in behind them. They neutralized the guards covering the rear with brutal blows to helmets. They allowed the strike team to quiet before they made their move, swarming in after them like a hive of angry bees.

 

“On the ground! Let’s go!” was heard from the newly arriving units as they surrounded the teams and held their weapons on them.

 

VVVVVBREAKVVVVV

 

<R“This is Angel one, in place,”R> SrA Austin stated as she moved into position at the rear of the facility. She listened as the rest of her team reported their positions to the strike commander.

 

The entrance went off like clockwork, they saw from their position hiding near the rear fence. Then, the N.E.S.T. operatives appeared out of the adjacent hangars and quickly surrounded the engaging teams.

 

<R“Backup teams, engage!”R> came the order from the strike commander.

 

<R“Anyone see the engagement?”R> Gunny Young asked.

 

<R“Affirmative,”R> Austin said. <R“They did not engage, all humans.”R>

 

<R“Work the plan,”R> he answered quickly.

 

Slowly, the backup teams approached the facility. As soon as they reached the lighted area of the tarmac, one of the robots spotted them and alerted the rest.

 

“Halt!” came the order from several members of the opposing forces.

 

Austin and her team complied by stopping their forward progress, but maintained their weapons.

 

“My name is Leslie Austin. We want to speak with the boss ‘bot before anyone gets hurt,” she called out clearly.

 

“Lower your weapons and maybe we’ll let you,” a cocky voice negotiated from the opposition.

 

“We’ve stopped as ordered, we aren’t about to leave ourselves defenseless to the overzealous likes of you.”

 

<R“What are you doing?”R> the strike commander asked through her implant just before the connection suddenly severed.

 

<R“Strike commander down. Continue as planned,”R> Gunny Young informed a moment later.

 

“It’s alright Fletcher,” a velvet voice advised from the neighboring hangar. The sound of metal feet walking across the tarmac silenced him.

 

“I am Optimus Prime, leader of the Autobots. You wished to address me Leslie Austin?”

 

“Yes sir. We are a part of the first unit of the Carlisle Security team. We have been deployed to retrieve and protect Maimed Angel. Will you turn her over?”

 

“No. We, also, are protecting her. However, we are protecting her **from** Dr. Carlisle. Tell me, are you aware of whom she truly is?”

 

“She’s the first soldier to become a viable cyborg. Without her, none of us would be here.”

 

“I am afraid you are mistaken. She is the twelve year old niece of Dr. Carlisle. She may be the first viable cyborg, as you say; but she was three when it occurred.”

 

“What?

 

“Fellowes?”

 

“It has to be true. He wouldn’t lie about that unless he was lied to first.”

 

<R“Gunny Young? Did you hear that?”R>

 

<R“Affirmative,”R> gunny responded. <R“I hate to say this, but I believe him.

 

<R“Inform them I’m bringing in the strike commander and his subordinate via the front door. All personnel surrender to the robots; I don’t trust the human soldiers.”R>

 

<R“Copy,”R> she addressed him.

 

“My unit commander is bringing in the strike commander and his subordinate via the front door,” she addressed Optimus Prime. “We have been ordered to surrender to your forces, but not the humans,” she said as she proceeded to drop her clip on the ground and clear the round in the chamber. The sound of her team following suit echoed off the metal walls of the buildings and planes.

 

“Very well.

 

“Sideswipe, Jukes, Ratchet, relieve them of their weapons,” he ordered.

 

“I should probably warn you,” Austin started, “we’ve been undergoing subliminal manipulation to increase our fear of you. You might want to allow for that.”

 

“If that’s true,” Ratchet informed him, “then these humans will be more likely to engage in desperate measures to escape us, including suicide.”

 

“Then we will place them under,” he paused as he researched the web for the proper terminology, “suicide watch. I will defer to your judgment as to who should be posted.”

 

Optimus turned and walked back into the hangar. Now that the primary military weapon of the doctor had been captured, it was time to question the spy.


	26. Author's Note

Hey all! 

Just thought you guys should know that I didn't disappear. It's just that I'm in the middle of trying to arrange for a cross-country move, so writing time(i.e. re-writing time) is rather hard to come by.

This story is going to finish, just going to take longer than I had originally anticipated.

Thanks for your understanding.

Sincerely,

LGTracy


	27. Author's Update

This is just another update about what's going on. I haven't moved yet, but I am desperately trying to get all of those slippery little ducks in that particular row. However, I am not able to do any work on any of my stories because the storage device they are all saved on crapped out. I am in the process of trying to find them on another backup device and recover the data on the original device without formatting it.

Wish me luck!

Sincerely,

LGTracy


End file.
